Bleached: Rebooted
by ChevalierAirumel
Summary: Two girls transfer to a school in Japan for the summer only to get kidnapped by Aizen's forces. Just what does the ex-captain want with them? -Rated T for violence-
1. A Lost Wallet & So Much More

**-Prologue-**  
It was a cool moonless night when it all began. The sky was clear save for an occasional cloud drifting aimlessly across the moonless sky. The only light came from a dim street light a few meters away from where an unlucky girl had seemingly met an unfortunate end.

"My apologies Miss," a green-garbed man wearing a striped hat knelt next to a young lady in an alleyway. She lay face-down on the hard asphalt, surrounded in a growing pool of her own blood.

Brown, unfocused eyes attempted to focus up at the man. Her thoughts struggled to recall what was going on, but they, like her vision, and already weak pulse, were fading.

Rustling through a pocket, the strange man pulled out what looked like a fallen star. The material gleamed a depth-less blue hue, "I guess this will work out for both of us," a slight smile crossed his face as he placed the light on the girl's back. It glowed brighter for a few seconds and then seemed to melt into the girl, rippling through her school uniform into her body.

Loud running footsteps suddenly came around the corner. "Zezuri!" A female voice exclaimed in horror-stricken recognition, stopping dead in her tracks. The newcomer was a tall blond girl with straight hair freely falling below her shoulders. Without even comprehending the presence of the man in green, she rushed to the side of her fallen friend. "Please don't be dead, please don't be dead, please don't be dead," she muttered over and over, trying to find a pulse in her wrist.

Nothing...

Nothing...

There. A sigh of relief escaped the blond.

"She'll be fine."

The new girl jumped; she could have sworn that there hadn't been anyone else here before she'd run to her friend's side.

"She's fine," the hat-wearing man repeated his statement, "Though, I think they stole her wallet."

"Huh?" The girl was still preoccupied with the knowledge that her friend was alive.

"She was mugged at knife point, clearly," he continued, sounding oddly cheerful, "But don't worry, she wasn't hurt all that badly."

A gravely puzzled expression crossed the girl's face. There was such a large puddle of blood around her friend, where else could it have come from? She was beginning to think-

"Hey now, don't go thinking I did this," the man cut off the blond's thoughts as he dug into another pocket, "I figured something like this would happen..." he muttered.

Suddenly, he thrust something into the girl's face."Don't worry! You two won't remember a thing!"

"What the heck are you-" began the blond, but she was cut off by a loud click and a large cloud of dust. The world spun about and then all went as black as the new moon.

* * *

**-Chapter 1-**

A loud buzzing noise filled the ears of a teen-aged girl sleeping on a thin mattress. The sound had awoken her from a rather deep dreaming state, yet as she rubbed sleep from her green eyes, she found herself unable to recall even a trace of it. Airi Citnalta was a tall seventeen year-old, standing at 5'6" (167cm), and in combination with her blond hair and green eyes, stuck out like a flamingo in a parade of penguins here in Karakura, Japan.

"Eh! Zezuri! We're going to be late!" a brief glance at her phone's clock was all that it took to send Airi running for the dresser.

"But it's summer... I just wanna sleep," moaned her roommate from a bed on the other side of a screen divider. Zezuri, also 17, was a year Airi's junior in school, but only a few months younger in reality. Her late winter birthday was the cause of the disparity. Shorter than her blond friend, Zezuri Okinami was around 5'4" (162cm), and with wavy brown hair and brown eyes, she blended in far better. Then again, being 1/8th Japanese certainly helped; Zezuri's grandparents had arranged the trip for the two friends and were even paying for their small apartment as a pre-graduation gift.

Airi grabbed a clean skirt from a drawer, "I don't want to be late on the third day!"

"It wouldn't kill you to be late for once in your life, you know..." the other girl muttered under her breath and marched in a dream-like daze to the bathroom as a blond blur sped on for the kitchen. Zezuri let out a sleep sigh, her friend really needed to learn how to relax; the apartment was only a block from the school and there was a whole hour before the warning bell even sounded.

After pouring herself a bowl of cereal, Airi had opened up the small refrigerator to find they were completely out of milk,"Hey, I thought you were going to the the store last night?"

"I thought I did," Zezuri called from the bathroom. The door opened and the brunette stepped out, toothbrush in hand, "But... I don't remember actually getting there..." she paused to brush her teeth, "Maybe I dreamt it?"

The blonde made a face and poured the cereal back into the box before scanning the meager contents of the cabinets for something else to eat.

Zezuri shrugged and resumed brushing her teeth. Something tugged at the back of her mind, she could swear she had left the apartment last night to go to the corner convenience store last night, yet at the same time, she wasn't so sure.

Upon leaving the bathroom, now in her school uniform after a quick shower, Zezuri went back into the bedroom to pack up her school bag, "Hey, have you seen my wallet?" she asked Airi, realizing it wasn't among the supplies in her bag.

"I thought you always left it in your bag," replied Airi from the kitchen, now cleaning her dishes.

"Yeah, usually... but it's not here," Zezuri dumped the contents on the floor to emphasize her point.

Airi peaked into the room, "I didn't see it in the kitchen, but I'll check."

Zezuri stood and began to inspect the room. She lifted her mattress, not there. On the dresser? No. In the dresser? Nope. Under the dresser? Still no.

After exhausting the areas to search in the bedroom, she sank to the floor.

Muffled footsteps on the tatami mat floor hailed Airi's entrance.

"Any luck?"

The taller girl shook her head, "We'll have to look for it later, we've only got ten minutes before the first bell," seeing the discouraged expression on her friend's face, she added, "Don't worry, I'll cover lunch."

Zezuri smiled weakly, "Sure," she nodded at Airi's offer and packed her bag. What was it she couldn't remember? Could the forgotten store trip have something to do with her missing wallet too?

* * *

Despite their initial excitement at studying in a foreign setting, the two girls had quickly felt out of place when all the students were speaking Japanese. Airi and Zezuri both were able to understand the majority of what was said, but it would still take getting used to nonetheless. The summer heat only added to the girls' discomfort.

"I still didn't memorize my class number..." Zezuri said trying to spot her homeroom while taking out a piece of paper she had written the room numbers for her classes on, "Oh! It's right here," she waved to Airi as they began to go their separate ways.

Airi suddenly turned around as she heard her friend squeak in surprise before she entered the classroom. Zezuri had been plowed over by a boy with orange hair.

"Sorry about that!" he shouted, barely looking back at her.

Airi ran to Zezuri's side and pulled her out of the way before she was trampled by a few more running students, following the boy who had rushed by a second ago.  
They were an odd group; a big guy with dark skin, another guy who was tall, skinny, and wore glasses, followed by a large chested girl. But it was all a blur to the two girls who stared in confusion as the gang rushed past.

"Did they all have to go the bathroom?" Zezuri asked, frazzled.

Airi helped her up as she dusted herself off, "I don't think so," she replied.

Zezuri entered her classroom to find it was as if no one else had noticed or cared about the commotion just outside a minute ago. "I guess kids in Japan do this a lot," she thought.

Classes proceeded as usual; homeroom, math, and gym for Zezuri while Airi tackled chemistry and history. Finally, the bell sounded and Airi and Zezuri met for lunch in the schoolyard. Zezuri was still mulling over the missing memories from last night. None of the pieces she recalled seemed to fit.

Airi and Zezuri began a conversation about how their classes were going, when the orange haired boy from earlier approached them.

"Hey... Sorry about earlier. I, uh, had something to take care of..." he tried apologizing. "I hope you aren't hurt or anything. But I guess you're new here, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki." he still sounded embarrassed, not used to apologizing to many people.

"I-I'm Z-Zezuri, and... it's alright... I-I'm okay." Zezuri stammered.

Ichigo smiled, glad that she was not hurt or upset, and walked away.

"Well, that was interesting..." remarked Airi, "looks like someone might have a crush on you," she jabbed her friend in the side.

"W-what?"

Just then the bell signaling the end of the lunch period sounded and the two had to split ways for afternoon classes.

* * *

The final bell could not come soon enough, thought Airi as she stared out the window in a daze. The afternoon heat was making her head fuzzy and she had given up on paying attention, the teacher just droned on about proper grammar in English in a monotone and half the class had fallen asleep already. To have this class after gym was just cruel.

The heat outside was causing ripples in the air, Airi noticed as she stared closer. The school's gate looked like a mirage as the heat attempted to sear away at it. But wait, something caught the blonde's attention. She squinted her green eyes. Was that a man with blue hair standing outside the gate all dressed in white?

She looked back inside for a moment and then looked back out the window. The man was gone. "Well, it is hot enough that I could be seeing things... and the sprinklers might be on on the other side of the gate... I guess it could have been a mirage..." Airi reasoned silently, "Oh well... now how much longer until I'm free of this class?"

* * *

The school day finally came to an end as the long-awaited bell finally rang. Airi bolted out of her class and down the stairs where she met Zezuri outside of her classroom on the second floor.

"Didn't melt away?" joked Zezuri.

Airi's forehead was dripping with sweat, "It's like 10 degrees warmer up there..." she moaned, "I reeaaallly want a shower..."

"Yeah, but we've got to go to the grocery store first," Zezuri could not get the missing events of last night out of her mind even despite her accident in the hallway from this morning.

Airi groaned, "I forgot about that... let's make it fast..."

The two girls exited the building and the school grounds, unaware that they were being watched by a silent figure standing behind a tree.

"I really hope you can find your wallet."

"Yeah, me too."

* * *

After returning to the apartment laden with enough groceries to last a week, Airi ran for the shower while Zezuri returned to looking for her wallet.

She searched the whole kitchen and the bedroom before finally giving up again.

The brunette gave a big sigh and flung herself on her mattress. Feeling something under her pillow, she sat up and curiously lifted the bag of fluff. "What the heck?"

"What's up?" asked Airi, now showered and feeling a bit more refreshed, despite the lack of air conditioning in the apartment.

"My wallet," Zezuri held up a bright pink case decorated with a white cat that contained her money, school ID, and visa in it.

"How did it find its way back?"

Zezuri opened it, "All of my stuff is still in here too..." she was puzzled.

"Hey, what's that piece of paper on your bed?" Airi pointed to a folded piece of paper that fluttered in the slight breeze from the open window.

* * *

Chev and I decided that since it's been four years and we're hopefully much better writers, that we'd attempt this story again. I know right now it sounds nothing like the original, but we had some plot holes that needed major filling in. (The biggest two are here) Anyways, we hope you enjoy! Review please! ~Airumel


	2. Moonlight Sands

**-Chapter 2-**  
"I found this in the street this morning. I believe it is yours. -U.K." read Zezuri off of the piece of paper she had discovered under her pillow along with her missing wallet, "U.K.? Who is U.K.?"

Airi was examining the window for any evidence of a break in, but the screens on the window did not appear to be tampered with at all, "How did that get here?" she wondered aloud.

"Do you think they picked the lock on the door?" asked Zezuri.

"Well... maybe... but who breaks in unnoticed in the middle of the day! Ms. Yamamoto is always working in the garden out front, there's no way she wouldn't notice someone breaking in."

"So... did they just walk through the walls?" Zezuri laughed.

The blonde rolled her eyes, "Of course not! But I guess, we shouldn't worry... they did bring back your wallet."

"The past two days have been odd..." thought Zezuri. She proceeded to leave the wallet on her desk and toss the letter in the trash.

The next day the two girls managed to get to school with plenty of time, partly to make up for the prior day's frantic rush. The friends continued in their early morning chatter on their way to school until Zezuri paused suddenly in the middle of a sentence.

Airi took a few steps before she noticed her friend had stopped talking and then stopped herself. "What's up?" she asked, turning around and retracing her steps.

"I-I... I don't feel so good..." Zezuri moaned. Her face was pale and her heart suddenly began to race.

Airi opened her mouth to ask her companion if she needed to go to the nurse's office, when suddenly, a strong, heavy, and powerful sensation, threatened to crush them into the ground.

"W-what's going on!" Airi exclaimed as the hallway became empty of students as they entered their respective classes upon the ring of the warning bell. No one else seemed to notice, but why? she wondered as everything became hazy as she and Zezuri fell to their knees.

Zezuri's chest was throbbing with pain. She felt as if her mind was melting as she coughed into her hand, fearing she would vomit at any moment.

Airi managed to lift her head and was struck with confusion as the air in front of her and a dark void opened suddenly. It was like staring into an abyss, pitch black and unmoving, until several figures in white appeared from the darkness. "I must be going insane," the blonde thought, struggling to maintain cognition. Airi was on the verge of collapsing as the white-clad figures stepped closer.

It was apparent that the figure in front had the most powerful presence as he strode over to the girls and nudged Airi with his foot nonchalantly. "Ahh these are the two..." he grinned.

Airi winced at the touch of man's sandal clad foot. Despite the enormous pressure weighing down on her body she forced a glance upwards at a gentle smile on the face of a brown haired man.

Meanwhile, the boy from earlier, Ichigo, sensed the powerful presence, and it froze him to his seat. "This spiritual pressure... It's strong..." he thought before raising from his seat.

* * *

"Mr. Kurosaki, I don't suppose you need another bathroom break." the teacher said sarcastically.

"Y-yes ma'am!"

He ran out the door as his other friends went to rush after him, but the teacher stopped them with a sharp glare.

"Sit down! One at a time!" she ordered.

* * *

The man in white continued over to Zezuri and knelt down as he tilted her head upwards gently in one hand.

"This one..." he gazed deeply into her fearful eyes.

Zezuri let out a small moan and slumped forward into the ominous man's arms.

"We take them both," he ordered as he hand the unconscious Zezuri to two of his followers.

As two other white attired figures brought the Airi to her feet, she noticed the man with blue hair she had mistaken for a mirage yesterday afternoon. Even stranger to her was the odd white material her captors had on their faces. A macabre thought crossed her mind, as for a moment, she thought it was bone, but her mind was too muddled to piece anything together. Airi then felt herself hoisted up and carried away toward the black portal. She noticed Zezuri was being taken as well before everything went dark and she went unconscious.

Loud, rushed, footsteps of straw sandals on tile floor were heard along the corridor as Ichigo managed to arrive before the portal closed. Then he was taken aback as a familiar figure shrouded in the darkness smiled and walked away, "Aizen!" he exclaimed as the portal closed.

* * *

Airi was dreaming. An ocean of stars lay at her feet. She watched, puzzled, as the black matter with small lights lapped up gently against her shoes as she sat up on a rocky shoreline. Yet, as the wave receded, she realized she did not feel wet at all.

"Where am I?" she asked aloud to the empty evening sky.

"You should be able to figure that out for yourself," a voice cracked.

Alarmed, Airi stood up and looked around frantically, "W-who's t-there?" She saw nothing but the sea of stars that surrounded the tiny rocky island she was on. Storm clouds framed the horizon in the distance, but seemed to be growing larger.

Thunder rumbled in the distance in an answer, "Ah, but it seems our meeting is not to be, at least for now."

A light breeze began and quickly turned into a gale as the clouds rushed in obliterating the night sky. The sea began to churn, stars twinkling menacingly at first then all grew dim. Away from the shore the liquid rushed on every side. Knowing what was coming next, Airi glanced about, but only flat, rocky ground met her eyes. Picking a direction at random, she ran in vain; the water came back with a roar smashing into her in seconds. Choking on the starry liquid, Airi struggled to breathe. Darkness soon overtook her mind.

* * *

Airi was amazed when she regained consciousness and found herself lying on something soft and white. However, as her vision cleared up, she was dismayed to find that she was not safe in her bed as she had expected.

"Hey, this one's awake!" yelled the gruff man who had her slung over his shoulder.

Terror seized Airi's mind as she slowly recalled the events prior to her nightmare. Just where was she? And who were these people?

Abruptly, she was dropped to the ground with a dull thud, "You can walk, one less for me to carry," he growled and shifted Zezuri on his other shoulder.

The blonde looked up groggily at the tall man carrying Zezuri. His hair was as blue as the sky on a cloudless day. Stranger than his hair color was the extra half jaw of bone on the right side of his face.

"This is stupid," he muttered, "why should we hide our presence and walk anyways! C'mon, this is Heuco Mundo! OUR kingdom!"

"Would you rather we have Soul Society or the renegade hollows on our tails right now?" replied another member of the white-clad men.

A cocky grin crossed the blue-haired man's face, "Peh, I could take 'em, in fact, I wanna fight 'em all NOW!" he laughed energetically, "Every last one of them! Bring it!"

"Patience, Grimmjow, you will have your chance," the brown-haired leader spoke as he outpaced the protester.

The group became quiet and Grimmjow fell behind his leader in frustrated silence.

Airi was still sitting where she had landed. Taking in her surroundings, she stared in awe and horror. Sand, so much sand, pure white, as pale as the moon, heaped in dunes, in every direction as far as the eye could see. A black night sky hung overhead with a crescent moon in its late waning stages provided a dim light. She made no effort to stand, her mind overloaded with the current situation. Her body began to shake and tears welled up in her eyes. A sob left her throat before she realized what was happening.

Pale hands with black nails wrapped around her arm and with a strong grip, pulled her to her feet. Piercing green eyes framed by black hair gazed emotionlessly down on the distraught girl. "We must proceed, woman," he stated in a monotone. Though her blurred vision she made out a bone helmet that covered half his head. What was it with these people? She wondered before shaking her head weakly. Her feet however, seemed to have a mind of their own as she found them moving despite her reluctance. She gave in quickly, not wanting to be left alone in the dark desert night.

The group walked for what seemed like hours, yet the moon didn't budge in the slightest from its high position in the sky.

A large white stone palace suddenly arose as they traversed a large dune.

"About time!" shouted Grimmjow, suddenly, he and Zezuri vanished from in front of Airi only to reappear briefly in front of the palace doors.

She had stopped crying a ways back but the sight of the palace filled her chest with a pang of hopelessness. It sat silently in the night air, yet the way it loomed in the distance gave a sense of foreboding.

A mangled cry rang through the night from behind.

Airi froze in place and began to shake violently.

The leader gave a glance to the pale man standing behind Airi, "We'll meet you there," he stated.

The pale man nodded and vanished in a single motion.

"Shall we?" asked another member of the group. His short silver hair was cut close to his face which bore a slanted smile slightly reminiscent of a fox. He offered a hand to the blonde girl who took it quickly. At least he looked human.

The remainders of the group flashed towards the castle.

* * *

By the way, this is a total re-write of the prior version. We're not just grabbing the old chapters and adding new words. I don't even look at the old version, I just let whatever comes to my mind happen. :) Hope you are enjoying! Let us know what you think! ~Airumel


	3. White Walls & Endless Halls

**-Chapter 3-**

As they approached the gates, Zezuri began to stir. She lifted her head and first noticed the pale desert behind them. She didn't speak, but only gazed with confusion and then noticed Airi walking behind her being led along by a man with short silver hair. "Airi!" exclaimed Zezuri before being dropped to the ground. Struck with surprise and pain from the rough confrontation with the ground, Zezuri lay in a crumpled heap until Airi scrambled over and helped her friend to her feet.

"Seems like you can just walk from here," the lewd man with blue hair said as he pushed through the enormous gates.

As they walked through, a feeling of doom filled both of the girls. Zezuri closed her eyes and clutched to Airi's arm.

As the gates closed behind them, total darkness engulfed all but a lit doorway ahead of them.

"A-are we dead?" Zezuri whimpered.

"If we are, this is really cliche," Airi said trying to make light of the situation. They stepped into the pale walled hall, relieved to see again, but there wasn't much to look at. Colorless stone walls illuminated by the light seemed just as abysmal as the dark.

The girls followed the group of strangers down the hallway until they came to another set of big doors. As they opened, the leader made his way to the head of a long table and sat down.

Airi and Zezuri exchanged nervous looks as they noticed more white-clad figures already seated at the table.

"I'm sorry I do not have time to give you a tour, but I have something to take care of," he said slightly smiling.

The two girls were pushed into seats by the silver haired man before he and the rest of the members that had followed them in sat down as well.

"Ah, Ulquiorra, you've returned," the leader addressed the pale man sitting in the chair next to him, that had been empty mere seconds ago, "I trust you terminated the problem?"

"Yes, Aizen-sama," Ulquiorra replied.

The leader nodded and turned his attention back to the two girls who were fearfully sitting in silence. "As you all can see, our trip was successful," Aizen addressed his underlings, "However, I was unable to detect exactly which one we needed, yet both seem to have much potential."

A few soft murmurs were heard from the group.

"As such, I expect you will all treat our guests with respect," a cold smile slithered its way onto the face of the commander. His eyes twinkled darkly as he looked at the girls, "I expect you to treat your hosts with the same respect," he gently insinuated.

Airi felt a chill run down her spine as she shuddered briefly. Something in his tone certainly didn't make her feel like a guest.

Aizen continued, "I have arranged for them to stay up in the top floor of the East tower. Unfortunately, due to some recent damage, we will have to post a guard until our maintenance crew fixes the West basement, since there isn't a door."

Grimmjow suddenly was flashed a quick look from his master to which he returned with a scowl, "Not my fault..." he muttered.

The blue haired man's comment was ignored, "Before I send them off to their room, I believe I should offer them a proper welcome. Tosen?"

A dark-skinned man wearing an orange scarf and large, shield-like glasses entered bearing a tray with two plates of food and glasses of a strange, pale green colored liquid. He moved without a sound and placed the food and beverages in front of the two girls.

At first neither made a move to eat or drink.

"I assure you, nothing is poisoned. If we had wanted to kill you, we would not have brought you here. Besides, I wouldn't be a very good host if I killed my guests, would I?"

Airi's stomach growled and she looked down helplessly at the food in front of her and then to Zezuri who shared her pained expression.

"Well, we all don't have to sit here, this meeting is dismissed. Gin, would you mind keeping these two company? There are somethings that need my immediate attention."

"Of course, Aizen-sama," the silver haired man gave a small bow of his head to Aizen.

The leader nodded and exited the room followed by an entourage of white-clad figures.

Gin rose from his seat next to Airi and moved to the other side of the table so that he was facing the two girls. "Well, eat up!" he said enthusiastically, "Can't let you starve now can we?"

Airi's stomach growled again. this time she gave in, but reached for the drink first. Its pale green color reminded her of a soda drink from back home, yet, as she raised it to her lips it certainly didn't smell like it. A sickeningly sweet smell wafted from it to which she wrinkled her nose in response and took a sip anyways.

"W-well... w-what is it?" asked Zezuri half expecting Airi to drop dead.

"Oddly... like... really sweetened soy milk..." Airi stated before taking another sip.

Zezuri continued to watch her friend drink, very untrusting of strange food in strange places.

Soon, Airi had finished her beverage and began to pick at the roll on her plate.

"No matter how much my stomach hurts, I can't bring myself to eat," Zezuri said slightly depressed.

"Hey, don't be like that. We don't even know why we are here, just eat so you don't pass out," Airi tried to encourage her friend.

Zezuri grabbed the cup and slowly drank the strange liquid. As thirst-quenching as it wasn't, she did not want to drink it again.

The two girls sat quietly and ate their food as the man named Gin silently walked around the room.

When they finished they continued to remain in their seats until someone else entered the room. He looked strange, and the girls stared at him and secretly questioned if he was even a he.

"Ah, Luppi. So you've come to escort the girls," Gin said from the wall he was leaning on.

"Unfortunately," the newcomer replied while giving the girls a snide look. He had dark brown hair in bowl-cut style and three pink diamonds tatooed above one eye. Like most of the others, he too had strangely shaped white material in his hair. "Aizen-sama needs someone brave enough to handle these human scum."

"Now now, Luppi. Aizen told us to treat them as guests." Gin smiled and turned to the girls, "I leave you two in Luppi's care, you should follow him to your room".

Airi and Zezuri rose from their seats awkwardly, still unsure of the newcomer and where they were being taken this time. Regardless, they followed him quietly, leaving Gin behind in the room as he waved merrily.

"Treating you like guest is a pathetic waste of my time," Luppi laughed once out of Gin's earshot making the girls feel even more uncomfortable with their cynical caretaker.

Luppi led them down long stairways that seemed to go on forever. By the time they arrived to the room they would stay at, Airi and Zezuri's legs were going to fall off from beneath them.

"Where is an elevator when you need one," Zezuri said panting.

Airi was also breathing hard, "Or an escalator," she added, weakly.

"Quiet you two!" yelled Luppi from in front. He turned around a corner, and opened a door revealing a tall ladder, "Up you go," he sneered, standing aside for the two girls to ascend.

The two friends hesitated.

"UP. NOW. OR I DON'T CARE WHAT AIZEN SAID ABOUT GUESTS!" yelled their captor. Power surged from him in waves.

Airi stepped forward first and put a hand on the cool metal of the ladder. It looked like it went up forever, "W-woa... that's... really... high..." she muttered suddenly feeling nauseous.

An impatient growl from behind snapped her back to reality and she quickly scrambled up the first few rungs.

Zezuri waited until there was just enough room for her to squeeze on under Airi; being left behind with Luppi was more terrifying than the endless ladder.

* * *

After what seemed like hours of climbing, they arrived at the top of the ladder and then entered yet another hallway. Airi and Zezuri were thoroughly exhausted when their captor finally came to a stop at an entry way.

"Supposedly Aizen-sama has even provided new clothing for you. Not that you would even fit in or anything." Luppi sneered from behind.

The two girls wondered what the nasty man was trying to imply; neither were large or even slightly close to being heavy-set. The blonde's stick figure had resulted from a recent growth spurt and still lacked much of a chest. Zezuri was a more endowed, but a her teenage metabolism was still strong.

Looking around the room, Zezuri noticed it was as incredibly plain as the rest of the featureless castle. The room was empty, save for two white beds and a bathroom to the left of the entryway. The only light in the room came from the moonlight that rained in softly from an open window setting in the wall at the other end of the room. A set of clothing had been folded nicely and placed on each of the two beds. A pair of sandals was set to the side of each bed as well.

Luppi stayed outside the doorway and muttered to himself.

Airi and Zezuri looked at the beds.

"How do we know who gets what?" asked Airi absently.

Zezuri gave a puzzled look to her friend, she had a good point. Airi was too tall for most of Zezuri's clothes and had bigger feet.

Luppi said nothing and continued to act like no life existed in the room to his backside.

Sighing, Airi moved to the bed on the left and pushed the clothes to the floor, "I think I'll pass on this offer right now," she let out a yawn, "I'm so tired..."

The brown haired girl moved to the other bed and set the clothes to the side before taking a seat. She wasn't tired and was amazed Airi was actually going to attempt sleeping here. As she watched her friend drift off, sleeping didn't sound like such an unreasonable idea. After fluffing up the sad excuse for a pillow, Zezuri too laid down and soon was drifting off to sleep.

* * *

An odd dream started without warning. A chain broke somewhere in front of Zezuri as pain surged through her soul. A feeling of loss, emptiness, and confusion whirled around until an orb filled with a depthless blue suddenly absorbed her inside. The feeling of loneliness was replaced with that of warmth. She wished she could stay like this forever. Then they showed up. A group of white figures, blurry, but Zezuri recognized them in an instant; her captors. The warm feeling went out like a candle in a gale as her subconscious re-lived the moments of her capture. Suddenly, the white figures were chased out by a mass of darkness. Something in it beckoned to her and warily, she started to follow it.

* * *

Airi too, dreamed. She was seated in the great hall of the white palace with a goblet of the green liquid in front of her.

"Whatever you do, don't drink it," boomed the thunderous voice.

"But... it's too late," replied Airi, noticing the goblet was empty.

"Beware..." the voice started, but Airi did not hear the rest as she doubled over in pain.

She noticed a long silver chain extending from her chest to halfway across the room. A large portion of it vanished in an instant and the pain intensified.

* * *

Airi bolted upright drenched in sweat. She looked down, no chain in sight. A wave of nausea overtook her and she clutched her stomach hoping to alleviate it. She made a mental note not to drink the green liquid again as the pain subsided.

There was not much else to do since the room was almost empty, so Airi lay on her bed and Zezuri snoozed on in a light sleep. Suddenly Airi felt like she had enough and sat up quickly from her bed.

"Zezuri." she said trying to quietly get her attention. Zezuri opened her eyes and leaned over to her as Airi whispered in her ear.

"It seems like that guy fell asleep over there... It's risky but I think we can make a run for it."

"But... we don't even know where we are," Zezuri murmured sleepily.

"I know... but no one is around and I'm tired of sitting here." both of them looked over at the sleeping Luppi.

They nodded in agreement and began to creep over slowly to the doorway.

* * *

_Sorry for the long wait, we've become really bad about designating chapter starts and stops so the next few chapters are going to be really long... Things started to sound a lot like the original version here, but we'll see what we can get to go differently! We do like suggestions! ~Airumel_


	4. Lost in the Labyrnith

-Chapter 4-

Zezuri's heart pounded in her ears as she and Airi took slow and careful steps across the bare stone floor. Every swish and rustle made by her school uniform seemed as loud as a gunshot.

Their guard was sleeping soundly, slouched against the open doorway. His chest rose and fell in a slow rhythm.

Airi glanced over her shoulder to Zezuri and nodded once before she took large step over the snoozing Luppi. Pausing for a moment, she listened intently for any sound of stirring from the guard. Only her pounding heartbeat was audible. She let out a silent sigh and looked up and down the hallway; no one was coming so she signaled Zezuri to follow.

The brunette inched her way forward as silently as she could. "I'm going to mess this up, I'm going to trip," her panicked mind thought furiously.

Airi signaled again, a little more urgently.

Zezuri clenched her teeth and shut her eyes as she slowly took one big step over the guard. Her foot met solid ground on the other side of the guard. A hand reached out and helped steady her as she pulled her other foot over. Suddenly, she felt a little dizzy. Her balance wavered and she opened her eyes in time to see herself falling and taking her friend along with her.

A muffled thud resonated through the hallway and the girls froze in horror. Who knew what wrath was about to befall them when the irritable guard found them sneaking out.

Silence ensued.

The blonde open her eyes and looked at their captor who was still sound asleep. She nudged Zezuri, who carefully stood up.

"Which way?" her glance silently asked Airi.

After checking the halls again, the taller friend nodded in the direction opposite of the way they had come in.

They began to move slowly down the hallway, each step faster than the first. Soon they were walking at a brisk pace.

Zezuri felt they were safe to speak as they turned a corner, "Where are we going?"

"I don't know, anywhere. Maybe there's a phone around here we can use to get some help," doubt hung in her mind, but she hadn't given up hope yet.

Up and down hallways and stairways the two wandered without seeing any phones, let alone anything that resembled one.

"Just where are we?" she moaned.

"I can answer that."

The girls jumped as a voice spoke from behind them. A tall man with long brown hair and a beard who looked to be in his late thirties was staring at them with a bored expression.

Zezuri took a few steps backwards and pulled on Airi's shirt, "C'mon!" she shouted.

"What? I'm not about to turn you in," he said mildly amused.

Airi remained tense but Zezuri let go of her shirt. Neither spoke, but remained silently bursting with questions.

The tall man was dressed like everyone else, in a white garb with black accents. A jaw bone hung around his neck like a macabre necklace, "Seriously. Aizen's concerns are not mine," he looked at the girls, both were still petrified, "Look, this is Las Noches, the arrancar kingdom of Hueco Mundo."

"W-where is Hueco Mundo?" managed Airi.

A puzzled expression crossed the man's face as he tried to piece together an answer, "That's a hard one to explain... let's just say it's not in the world you came from."

"Whaaa?" Zezuri's shocked response.

"T-that's not... possible, is it?" Airi took a few steps back, her face as white as a sheet.

The man wondered if he should have lied to the girls, they looked completely hopeless.

Another step of footsteps was heard coming down the hall. Before the man had a chance to say anything more the two girls took off running.

Turning towards the direction of the new arrival, the man began to walk casually.

"Starrk?" called the voice from down the hall.

"Hello to you too, Gin," he muttered, "What can I help you with?"

The silver haired man walked towards the brown haired man, "Did I just hear you talking to someone?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," replied Starrk, trying to look surprised.

"Of course you don't, I must be hearing things," Gin chuckled eerily, "but you might want to be on your guard, Aizen would not be pleased if you were plotting something behind his back."

Starrk shrugged and continued on his way. Rebellion was not on his list of things to do today.

* * *

Zezuri was now in the lead, pulling a very winded Airi behind. Both ran onwards as if they could reach something that would get them out of this nightmarish situation.

A fork in the hall came up and for a quick moment the friends thought about splitting up before realizing that getting separated would be even worse than their current situation.

"We're going this way!" shouted Zezuri as she veered to the right pathway. Her choice lead them down yet another long, dull hallway. However, this one ended in a dead end, "What now?" shouted Zezuri.

"Let's try a door!" shouted Airi, rushing to the nearest. With a click, the door slid into the wall. A cool breeze blew in, but rather than the night sky she expected, a bright blue sky with lazily drifting clouds hung above Airi's head. How long had they been running for, she wondered, the sky out their window had been pitch black.

"I-I don't like this place," Zezuri shuddered.

Airi nodded her agreement. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something was clearly wrong here, but she shut the door behind them anyways.

Zezuri kept watching the sky. "That's what it is!" she exclaimed suddenly, "There's no sun!"

"How right you are," a new voice said behind them. The girls jumped, their hearts threatening to burst. Suddenly the owner of the voice appeared in front of them, revealing a snake-like an exceedingly tall man with straight black hair cut rather uneven at the ends. He had an eye patch over an eye but he looked at them intently with his other eye.

"A couple of fine looking ladies seem to have wandered off without permission. What to do?" he pondered. He seemed to be teasing them.

Airi looked around frantically, searching for a way past him.

Zezuri looked back to find the door that was behind them a moment ago but had disappeared. "Airi, the door!It's gone!" she exclaimed.

"I suppose this is all Luppi's fault for falling asleep on the job... Aizen-sama will not be pleased..." the tall man circled the two, "Maybe I'll have some fun with you!" A sudden blast of power emitted from the man.

Before either of the girls blinked he had thrust an enormous crescent shaped disk straight at Zezuri's throat stopping it mere centimeters from her skin.

The brunette fainted dead away.

"Ahahaha, too bad, I was hoping you'd at least put up a fight!" the man laughed and roughly nudged Zezuri's unconscious form with a curved shoe, "But, as I guessed, you're just a weak, pathetic little human soul with no power!"

Airi stood shaking in place, her fists clenched in rage. No longer did she care about her safety. How dare this creep treat Zezuri like that! Clenching her jaw, she charged recklessly at the tall man.

The blonde's charge was cut short when she collided with another body, "No one touches Nnoitora-sama" spoke a dusty-blonde male of average height. He too wore an eye patch. A jawbone spanned his forehead like an odd sweatband, but Airi really wasn't paying any attention to the newcomer.

Nnoitora looked up and over to see his henchman pinning down a desperately struggling girl, "Peh, that wasn't necessary of you, Telsa."

"Yes, Master," replied Telsa dejectedly. He released Airi who instantly sprang up and flung herself at her original target.

A well placed fist forced all of the air from Airi's lungs. She crumpled to the ground in pain, tears in her eyes.

"She should have stayed down," muttered the henchman.

Nnoitora raised an eyebrow and glanced at the shorter man.

"I-I mean, nice shot, Nnoitora-sama!"

"Now, just what the hell are we supposed to do with these two?" the tall man thrust his scythe into the sandy ground leaving the handle standing upright.

"Perhaps Aizen-sama is already aware of their escape," Telsa replied.

As soon as the words were out of Telsa's mouth, Luppi appeared along with two others. "There they are!" he said angrily.

"Well, there's the moron who fell asleep on the job! Wouldn't you think they would pull something like this if you fell asleep?" Nnitora smirked, "What an idiot!".

Luppi's face twitched with annoyance, "Aizen-sama shouldn't waste my talent on something that stupid!" he retorted as the two others that had come with him lifted the unconscious girls and opened the door from before.

"What a brilliant idea," said Aizen suddenly appearing. "It seems the task I set for you was too much, am I right, Luppi?" he asked.

The failed guard became suddenly embarrassed and stepped back. "Well they-!" but before he could finish, another figure entered the room.

"Damn, looks like I'm late..." Grimmjow said looking like he'd just woken up from a nap himself. He glanced over at Luppi, "Just how useless are you, Luppi?" he raised an eyebrow sarcastically as he spoke.

Luppi sneered at Grimmjow's comment.

"Why thank you for volunteering, Grimmjow." Aizen seemed to have found the new night shift.

A look of dismay crossed Grimmjow's face as the information sank in, "You've gotta be kiddin' me!" he shouted, but there was no arguing with Aizen.

Nnoitora chuckled "You're a fool, Number 6," he cackled.

Aizen smiled coolly, enjoying his control over everything in Las Nochas. Normally a higher ranked arrancar would not have to deal grunt work, but Aizen liked to hold Grimmjow's arrogance against him.

Grimmjow dejectedly followed the arrancar back to the girls room, trying to think of other things he could be doing with his time, which really wasn't a lot.

Zezuri suddenly awoke and found her and Airi were back in their room. Airi was sleeping soundly, she noticed as she looked around the dark room. She observed there was someone new sitting outside the doorway that was much larger than Luppi. Wait, was that hole in his middle? she wondered, how had she missed that? Leaning over from her bed to get a better look at him, she suddenly found herself tumbling to the floor. Zezuri stopped breathing from the sudden surprise that broke the silence.

Grimmjow looked over his shoulder to see the brunette on the floor looking like a deer in headlights. He only glanced at her without caring too much, and turned away to stare at the hallway before him.

Zezuri got up and rushed to the bathroom. She shut the door quietly and went over to the sink. Splashing water onto her face, she looked into the mirror above it, and tried to figure out what time it was or what day. She thought about how much school they were missing and how they would fail high school or if they would even be able to go back. All these thoughts started to depress her and a few tears ran down her face. She wiped them away with her hand as she sniffled silently, then returned back into the other room.

Airi was awake now and sitting cross-legged on her bed, "Oh hey, you're alright!" She said with relief in her voice.

Zezuri smiled weakly back.

Airi noticed the redness on Zezuri's face, "Hey, is everything okay?"

"Y-yeah," Zezuri held back a few more tears, "I... I just wanna go home!" she shouted.

Airi looked at the floor, struggling with her own emotions, seeing her friend upset made her want to cry too, but she wouldn't allow it. Not yet, "We'll think of something," she said without too much enthusiasm. The words of the brown-haired man they'd run into during their escape echoed in her memory, "A different dimension, huh?" she began to comb her hand through her hair while wondering what he had meant by it. Although a huge fan of fantasy, the blonde just didn't know how to act when fantasy became reality.

Zezuri wandered miserably over to the window and gazed out across the endless night sands of what they now knew to be Hueco Mundo. Searching the horizon, she saw nothing but endless blackness. Did this mean there really wasn't anything out there? Gazing down she suddenly became very dizzy. The ground seemed impossibly far away. So much for escaping out the window. She looked to Airi and then to the doorway.

The blonde raised an eyebrow catching her friend's glance, but she shook her head. Escaping twice in the same day wasn't going to work.

Zezuri sighed, frustrated, even though she knew it wouldn't work. It'd be better than doing nothing, wouldn't it? A yawn suddenly issued from her mouth and she realized how exhausted she was from their prior attempt. "Oh well," the brunette thought inside her head, "maybe tomorrow," She laid back down on her bed and was soon soundly asleep.

The same dream entered Zezuri's mind again. The white figures were pushed back by the warm and welcoming darkness. Just as before, she walked towards it, but try as she might, she couldn't reach it. She started running, yet it remained just out of her reach. "Help me," she yelled at it. As the words left her mouth, she wondered why she was asking it for help. After all, wasn't darkness symbolic of all things evil?

* * *

Airi didn't sleep. Too many thoughts cluttered her mind. She had been mostly conscious after she had run into Nnoitora's fist and had heard the majority of the discussion that had ensued, though much of it hadn't made too much sense. Thoughts of home, too, were circling, but she pushed them back, trying to focus on the events of earlier. Just who were these people and what did they want her and Zezuri for? What did the snake-like man mean when he'd called Zezuri a 'human spirit'. Why did some of them have holes in their bodies? And what was with all the bone-like matter on the faces of some of the people and not Aizen and Gin?

Her thoughts were interrupted by footsteps in the hall.

"Grimmjow, I see you are already doing a much better job than Luppi," Aizen's voice drifted into the room.

The blue haired man grunted and scooted out of the way as Aizen entered followed by another that Airi had not seen before. He had bubble-gum pink hair and wore a white pair of glasses that reminded Airi of the bone-like material of the others.

Zezuri stirred in the other bed and suddenly sat up. She glanced nervously at Aizen and his companion, deciding instantly that there was something very wrong about him. She pushed herself back against the wall as far away from him as she could get.

With a gentle tone to match his current friendly expression, Aizen spoke, "I see you have not accepted the clothing I gave you," he looked from one girl to the other, "I must say, I am a little displeased."

Airi shuddered as his brown eyes full of displeasure peered into her own. Yet the smile never left his face.

Aizen continued, "How can I be a good host if my guests proceed to be so unruly?" he turned his gaze to Zezuri, who wished she could melt into the wall behind her. "You reject my gifts and treat my comrades with disrespect."

"S-sorry," the brunette stammered.

"Just don't let it happen again," he admonished gently, all traces of malice disappearing from his eyes.

Zezuri nodded quickly.

The leader turned back to the blonde, "Do you have anything to say for yourself?" he asked.

Green eyes glared back defiantly. Why was he trying to sound like a concerned parent. He'd kidnapped them for crying out loud!

Aizen released a small amount of his power. The air in the room became almost too thick to breathe.

Airi struggled to keep her glare aimed at her target, but soon gave out and slumped to the white sheets of her bed in defeat. Tears streamed down her face from frustration.

The pink haired man looked to his leader who gave a slight nod and he quickly scribbled something in a notebook he had brought with him.

"It's nothing to be upset over," Aizen's aura turned back to normal. He sat down next to the blonde, "It's normal for you to want power," he commented, putting a gentle hand on her back.

Tears streamed down Airi's face at an accelerated rate. She hated being comforted and she certainly didn't want this creep's pity!

A few moment passed before anyone spoke.

"W-what do you want from us?" Airi spoke through her tears.

She was answered with a mysterious smile and a chuckle, "Oh, you'll see. All in good time." Aizen rose to his feet and made to exit the room, he stopped in the doorway in thought, "Szayel, why don't you come back later, I'd like to discuss some things with you."

The pink haired man bowed elegantly, "Of course, Aizen-sama."

The two men left the room without a further word.

Airi collapsed into more sobbing and Zezuri slouched from her tense position.

"Peh, stop your crying! It's not going to make it any better for any of us!" shouted the guard.

Zezuri glared at the blue-haired man, "How can you be so mean!" she yelled back.

The blonde pulled her legs up on the bed so that her chin rested on her knees. She knew Grimmjow was right; crying wouldn't solve anything. She needed to become stronger. But... Aizen's words left her with a really bad feeling of things to come. And none of her questions had been answered!

While Airi struggled to pull herself together, Zezuri picked up the clothes she had pushed to the side of her bed and entered the bathroom. She wasn't too happy with how quickly she'd given in to Aizen, but what choice did she have? She sighed and began to change out of her uniform and into the white outfit. Once she had put on the outfit, she realized how Middle Eastern it looked. She twirled around and was a little uncomfortable with the long cape in the back. The shoes that came with it were different from the sandals the others wore, and were just a simple pair of flats. Zezuri felt a little embarrassed coming out of the bathroom, as the top showed off quite a bit of her midriff.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Zezuri noticed that Airi had mostly composed herself. Aside from the red splotches on her face, she showed no signs of being upset.

"Uh... your turn," Zezuri was clearly uncomfortable in her new outfit.

Airi began to collect her outfit from the floor where she'd abandoned it previously and entered the bathroom. "Another skirt..." she groaned, unfolding the white outfit. With much reluctance, she donned the new outfit; her top had only one sleeve on the right and it came with white leggings and some kind of half skirt. All complete with a pair of fingerless black gloves and knee-high boots.

When Airi exited the bathroom, she found that the pink haired man had returned, this time carrying a tray of food.

"Oh, there you are," he said, offering Airi the tray.

Airi eyed the food suspiciously, but took it regardless.

Zezuri was sitting on her bed, slowly picking at the food on an identical tray to the one Szayel had handed Airi.

"Well, go on, sit down and eat," he smiled as the moonlight bounced off his glasses in a sinister way.

Both of the girls shivered. Something was clearly off about this man.

Airi began to eat the food, finding she was hungrier than she'd expected. However, she stopped when she reached for the drink. the same sinister light green colored liquid sloshed inside it. Her last nightmare came flooding back to her.

"Something wrong?" asked Szayel leaning over to examine what Airi was looking at.

"It's nothing," Airi set the cup back on the tray, ignoring the parched feeling in her mouth.

Zezuri, after watching her friend's reaction to the drink, decided that she wasn't going to touch hers either.

"Hmmm..." wondered the pink-haired man. He scribbled into a notebook hurriedly and quickly replaced it in his pocket. "I'll be back tomorrow," he announced.

As soon as he left, Airi rushed to the bathroom with the cup and dumped it down the drain. She returned and grabbed Zezuri's without a word and dumped it out as well.

Szayel headed straight for Aizen's domain after he left the girls' room. "The blonde one suspects something. She is refusing to drink the tonic," he stated.

"Do not concern yourself too much, you have my permission to use other means to release their true potential," Aizen said calmly.

Szayel adjusted his glasses and grinned along with his leader, "Yes of course, my Lord," he gave another sweeping bow.

Back at the captives' room, Airi and Zezuri were bored out of their minds. Grimmjow had left for the day and Luppi returned to his position. He continued to ignore the two girls and sat silently in the hall.

"Is there anything else to do around here?" Zezuri wondered aloud, staring at the ceiling. She wished there was at least paper she could doodle on or something. "I'm so bored I could die!"

"Yes, I suppose you'd be better off dead," Luppi commented curtly.

The girls shrugged the rude comment off since they were too bored to care. Neither really felt like talking though. Zezuri hadn't asked why Airi had dumped out the drink, but was not too upset by the lack of explanation. Both were scared about what was to be their fate.

What seemed like countless hours later, dinner was delivered to their room. A masked grunt brought it to them with Grimmjow following behind for his night shift. After delivering the trays to the girls, the grunt left.

Upon examining the contents of her cup, Airi was relieved that the nasty green liquid was not on tonight's menu. It seemed to be just plain water.

Zezuri downed her drink in an instant, enjoying the refreshing taste of regular water. She looked up to see Airi observing her carefully, "It's just water," she assured her friend.

Airi looked into the cup, "I guess so," she took a sip and felt it was safe enough to drink the whole thing.

The two ate in silence, which persisted long after the meal until Zezuri couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sooooo bored," she moaned.

Airi sighed. She was just as bored, but didn't really know what could be done about it. Setting the empty tray of food on the floor, she began to fidget with the hem of her skirt wordlessly.

Grimmjow continued to sulk in the doorway, clearly not enjoying his job.

Zezuri flopped on her bed for a moment. An idea popped into her mind as her head hit the pillow. She smirked, sat up, and flung the pillow at Airi.

"What the-" the soft impact of the pillow striking the other girl in the head was accompanied by giggling coming from the attacker.

The giggling turned into full out laughter as Airi's expression went from pensive to baffled.

A smirk crossed the blonde's face as she returned the pillow.

Zezuri ducked and the projectile flew over her head hitting the wall behind her. She stuck her tongue out at Airi who started to shake silently with laughter.

The guard was becoming annoyed with the commotion behind him. It was bad enough that one of a high rank such as himself should have to endure this madness. He tried his best to ignore the ruckus, but when a poorly aimed pillow suddenly struck him in the head, Grimmjow decided he'd had it.

"ENOUGH!" he yelled, aura erupting.

The two girls became very silent.

Grimmjow was standing now, holding the pillow in his hand looking quite menacing as he glared at the two girls.

Zezuri choked on another giggle. Something about the pillow in the hand of the strange man just looked ridiculous. Perhaps she'd lost it, the possibility crossed her mind as she let out a burst of laughter again.

A growl issued from Grimmjow's throat as a red light engulfed the pillow, suddenly reducing it to ashes.

Airi had already backed up to the wall behind her, but Zezuri was now rolling with laughter.

"I-I'm s-sorry," she squeaked in between laughs, "It just-it just-you look odd with a pillow in your hand!" she managed, calming down. She wiped a tear from her eye, "You just looked... cuddly?"

Grimmjow's temper was at a boil. "Cuddly...? I LOOK CUDDLY?" he demanded.

"Y-yes! I m-mean n-no!" Zezuri shouted back frantically, "I-I'm sorry! Really!"

The guard took a deep breath, why was he losing his cool over something like this? He was better than that! After all, these human girls were no threat to him at all! He collected his aura and calmed his thoughts. "Tch, whatever. You two won't be here much longer anyways," he muttered under his breath, turning his back on them.

Airi had caught every word, "What does that mean?" she asked demandingly.

"What does what mean?" Grimmjow stopped and looked at the blonde, daring her to speak again with a slight rise in aura.

Her green eyes shone with fear driven determination, "That we wouldn't be around much longer! You must know why we're here!" she shouted.

"Sorry to say it, blondie, but no, I don't," annoyance shone clearly in his voice.

"But-"

"I just tell myself that, because that's usually what happens."

"Usually, what?"

"I don't know! I'm not the one who gets stuck babysitting! Since when does an Espada have to waste time babysitting?" he sighed knowing more questions were coming.

"Espada?" Airi repeated the word, "what's that?"

"You don't need to know."

"Why not?" Zezuri entered the conversation.

Great, now he'd done it, "Why don't you ask that idiot when it's his turn to guard?" he tried to shake them off.

"I don't think he's too intelligent," smirked Airi knowing she'd hit a weak spot.

"Heh, got that right, but still. Every idiot around here knows what an Espada is!"

"Then why don't you tell us?" asked Zezuri patiently.

Grimmjow looked at the brunette human, she looked up at him expectantly. He let out another sigh and figured that the quickest way out of this that didn't involve obliterating the two girls was to answer the question, "An Espada is what those of us who are high-ranked arrancar are called. We have numbers on our bodies representing our rank. I'm the sixth, so you better just watch yourselves!"

To his dismay, another question came, "What is an a-arrancar?" Airi tested the word.

"Hell's teeth! How do you not know this stuff?" the blue haired man exclaimed.

"No one really tells us anything, they just expect us to be willing to go along with everything."

"Not my problem!" Grimmjow tried to head for the door again.

"Please? Couldn't you just tell us a little bit?" Zezuri begged, desperate for the conversation not to end here. They were finally getting some answers.

"Alright, alright! Just promise me you'll shut up and leave me alone after this!" Grimmjow couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth.

The girls nodded eagerly and their guard sat cross legged in the middle of the floor just inside the room, "We arrancar are hollows that have shinigami swords and powers by being really strong."

"What's a hollow?" interrupted Zezuri earning her a glare.

"Just shut up and listen!" Grimmjow growled, "Hollows are lost human souls. They eat other souls, even other hollows. Most don't retain a consciousness and are extremely violent. Eating other souls makes them more powerful and some very powerful ones become arrancar. Like me."

"Shinigami? You mean god of death?" Zezuri translated.

The Espada glared at the brunette.

"Sorry..." she muttered, looking away.

"Sure, that's what they call themselves," he rolled his eyes. "Human spirits who have developed powers and carry swords, they exist to destroy hollows," a grin crossed his face, "But they're no match for me!"

The two girls remained silent, processing the information.

Grimmjow stood up slowly, praying they wouldn't start asking more. When they didn't, he resumed his spot in the hallway, now wondering himself what Aizen wanted the two girls for.

* * *

_No one tells the poor 6th Espada anything. EVER. Mwahahahahaha! A lot of explanations this chapter, I must say I love the pillow fight scene... -Airumel_


	5. A Bad Name for Science

_Hey everyone! Sorry for the long hiatus. I just got through with a really big move cross-country. I've decided to upload more chapters, so stay tuned. We've got somewhere around 13 written already and some are quite long. -Airumel_

* * *

-Chapter Five-

Morning was heralded by the entrance of breakfast.

"I guess the sun doesn't ever rise here, or we're on a pole pointing away," observed Airi, looking out the window over a plate of toast.

"What excellent hypotheses, Miss," the sound of clapping accompanied an eerily happy voice.

The girls stopped eated as the pink-haired man with glasses from the prior day entered the room.

"Hueco Mundo has no sun, that's why no organisms here are photosynthetic," Szayel smiled at Airi.

A cold shiver shot down her back and she suddenly felt like throwing up. She wanted to ask about the implied lack of oxygen, but not this man. Besides, she was breathing just fine.

If Szayel noticed Airi's repulsion, he didn't notice it, "Well, as promised, I'm back!" he looked in Airi's direction. "And the lord of the castle has permitted me to a playdate with one of you."

Airi's skin crawled, she wished he was not looking at her. She dreaded her very existence at this moment and lost her appetite.

"If you are done eating, we should get started right away." he continued merrily.

Airi's stomach dropped but she had no choice but to follow him as Aizen's dark gaze was upon her. Zezuri watched her friend rise from her bed gloomily as she feared for her safety.

"What-?" she was going to ask what they were going to do with Airi until she was cut off by Aizen.

"Don't fret, she is in good hands. I suggest you be remain in your room quietly. Grimmjow, see to it will you?" he turned his eyes toward the espada who was about to lose it.

"What about Luppi?" he asked angrily.

"Luppi is off on another mission for me. I need you to remain with our guest," he ordered gently.

The leader made to leave and paused for a moment, "Why don't you take her for a walk, Grimmjow, seeing as how you both are rather restless,"

Grimmjow watched Aizen exit. "Damn him..." he muttered as the footsteps became distant in the white halls.

Zezuri remained seated on her bed and kept her eyes to the floor. She was worried about Airi but there was nothing she could do.

"C'mon! We're going!" barked Grimmjow as soon as he was sure Aizen was gone.

Zezuri rose to follow the guard out the door as silent as a mouse.

"Who does he think he is? Trying to push all this on me... I should be doing things other than babysitting humans. It makes me sick," he growled.

"Well I didn't ask for this either!" Zezuri retorted.

The blue-haired Espada continued his rant.

Zezuri became so frustrated with his complaining, that she quickened her pace and passed him. She had no idea where she was going, but she was so distracted with her thoughts and too upset to care, that she hardly noticed.

Grimmjow watched her with confusion and frustration, "Hey, you idiot, we're turning this way!" he called out. Zezuri paused and turned around only to storm right past him again.

"Knock it off! You have no idea where you're goin'!" he commanded.

"I don't care..." she said with a quiet sob. Zezuri was becoming emotionally frustrated again.

"Hey don't be mad at me! I have no idea what is goin' on either!" Grimmjow tried to keep up with the brunette.

"Well if you're so powerful, why don't you stand up to him since you hate him so much!" she continued walking until Grimmjow grabbed her by the neck of her cape.

"Just what are you trying to say...?" he glared. Zezuri remained silent and avoided his gaze.

Grimmjow was going to blow a fuse. The red glow that had incinerated her pillow last night began to build in the palm of the angry arrancar's palm, "Say it you little-!" he was cut off from the sudden appearance of Gin.

"Aizen would not be pleased if you incinerated his guest, Grimmjow." he calmly strode toward the two. Grimmjow released Zezuri from his grip as she continued to look away.

"She may be his guest, but I ain't his slave!" Grimmjow argued.

"That may be, but you fear him as much as the others, despite your 'rank'." Gin knew he wasn't helping Grimmjow's mood any but he needed to save Zezuri from being turned into a pile of ashes. Besides, if it came down to a fight, the silver-haired man was of his abilities. He put his right hand over the hilt of his sword, ready to draw at a moment's notice.

Grimmjow wanted to destroy everything, yet, Gin was right, so he decided to keep his cool, "Hmph... I'm not afraid of that bastard..." he snarled.

"We'll see..." Gin grinned, then turned to Zezuri. "You'd be better off not angering him anymore, Princess," after patting her lightly on the head, he disappeared down the hall, leaving the two quarrelers standing alone.

Zezuri felt very awkward but did not want to apologize to the bully. She kept her eyes on the floor, fists clenched tightly.

"Whatever..." Grimmjow decided to take the lead again. But when he looked back to see if Zezuri was following he noticed she had gone. "What the-!" he heard small footsteps running in the other direction. He couldn't believe she would try to pull another escape stunt in front of him. Yet she had and his baffled expression quickly turned to anger as he sprinted after her.

Zezuri darted down the hallway and took a right into another one. The lighting in the hall started to become dimmer the farther she went. She was trying to find where they had taken Airi and to get away from the man who wanted to rip her throat out a moment ago. She'd find Airi and then they'd escape! This time for sure! Anywhere outside had to be better than in here!

She was running so fast she didn't notice the halls becoming darker and darker until she stumbled into a what seemed to be an empty room. Zezuri was trying to muster up the tiny bit of courage she had left as she felt around the abysmal darkness.

"I have to get through this..." she thought, her hands shaking. Suddenly her hands touched a smooth surface. She traced her fingers across it until she felt giant pointy objects followed by a heavy,warm and foul breath. Zezuri reeled back in terror and fell to the ground. She couldn't see anything but she heard to the breath of whatever she'd run into.

"Ahhhhhh... It seems that we are blessed with a human soul..." it said eerily. Zezuri suddenly noticed a pair of yellow eyes in the dark and she froze with fear.

"Perhaps this is a gift from that powerful Shinigami... Aizen... I have not had a meal in so long..." it creeped through the dark with a hungered lust toward the shaking girl. "I will savor this for another eternity!" it continued, opening its menacing jaws. Zezuri coiled herself onto the ground

A bright flash engulfed the room and Zezuri saw, for a brief second, a large black monster wearing a mask being blown across the room.

"Tch, you're more trouble than you're worth..." a voice said with a harsh tone.

She found herself being dragged up roughly by her savior.

"How stupid are you, woman? You thought you could get away!" he roared.

Then the hollow from before managed to crawl its way over to them, falling apart as pieces of flesh tumbled to the ground.

"Grimmjow! Espada or not, how dare you interrupt my feast!" it bellowed as it tried in vain to devour Grimmjow, rushing with its jaws open for the kill.

Grimmjow quickly grabbed the hollow by its large mask and released another concentrated blast of energy upon the attacker, obliterating it.

"Aizen's orders... Can't eat the guest." he said feeling so much better now that he got to kill something.

Zezuri looked up at him with fear and a little disgust at his demonstration of power.

"Enough.. let's go." he ordered.

* * *

Szayel led Airi down many flights of stairs. She was beginning to wonder how deep under the ground they were getting when her captor came to a halt in front of a large set of white double doors.

"Welcome to my lab," he held a door open and gestured for her to follow.

She complied wordlessly, as she knew he'd easily catch her should she flee. Szayel had informed her of his rank as the Eighth Espada; he'd been rather chatty on their way down, but Airi hadn't listened to much of it. She was too worried that she was about to become the newest specimen in the twisted man's collection.

"Now if you'll have a seat in that chair over there," he pointed to a lone white chair amidst a jumble of large machines, "I'll be over as soon as I find my collection vials!"

Airi stepped carefully across the floor noticing all of the cords that criss-crossed in a tangled web. She could feel the surge of electricity in the air and distracted her attention from Szayel's words by wondering just how much energy was needed to run all of the equipment. Strange buzzes and humms emitted from several of the machines as well as some clicks and the occasional whirring from the one nearest the chair. She remained standing, heart pounding, as she awaited the unpleasant return of the crazed man.

"Crraackle" a machine's monitor suddenly went full of static.

Airi jumped back in surprise. She hadn't realized she'd been leaning on anything.

The screen went blank.

Curious, Airi reached out for to touch the machine again.

A faint hum began as her hand neared its metal surface.

Pulling her hand back, the machine went dead again, "Must be a touch sensor..." she concluded, moving back to the chair as she heard Szayel return.

"No need to stand on ceremony, I just need to do a simple blood test for the moment," he grinned.

Trembling, Airi forced herself to sit in the chair as the Eighth Espada strapped her arms down securely and attached a new vial to a large syringe. She shut her eyes tightly and turned her head away from looking at the needle.

"If you could clench your left fist a little, that would make this go a lot easier," Szayel coaxed.

Airi complied and winced as she felt the needle enter her bare arm's vein. Aizen thought out this outfit well, she thought to herself, ignoring the discomfort as the needle was withdrawn. She opened her eyes as Szayel released her left arm and wrapped it tightly.

Grabbing the syringe off a nearby counter, Szayel headed for the back of his lab again, "Sit tight," he called behind.

"Like I have a choice," thought Airi as she tested how securely her right arm was still strapped in. There was no hope for escape, or even adjustment into a more comfortable position. She sat in despair listening to the machines for what felt like hours before the Espada returned.

"As I thought, you weren't taking the tonic. We'll have to do this the hard way," he sighed, carrying a new syringe in his hand. The vial on this syringe was not empty.

To Airi's horror, it contained the green liquid she had poured down the drain. "N-no!" she shouted and began to struggle against the restraints.

"You have two choices," Szayel approached Airi with care not to get within her reach, "You can either struggle until you wear out, or allow me to give you this dose peacefully. Either way, you're still getting it."

Neither was an option, thought the girl desperately. She pulled back on her arm as hard as she could, yet the strap holding her arm remained taught as if made of steel.

The pink-haired man watched patiently. He had all day.

After about ten minutes, Airi slumped in her chair. It was no good; she hadn't even felt the slightest amount of give in the strap. Pain seared in her arm along the areas where she'd rubbed the skin raw against the straps. Her other arm bled slowly from the needle puncture.

Szayel wasted not a second. Like a vulture waiting on the life to extinguish in a dying animal, he swept down upon her and with much precision and accuracy, injected the needle into her unguarded neck.

She didn't fight back or make a sound.

As the tonic entered her bloodstream directly, she felt herself drifting away slowly as a crackling noise drowned out everything else.

"Well, this is certainly interesting," remarked Szayel, backing away from the girl quickly. In his haste he dropped the empty syringe on the floor where it shattered.

The machines surrounding him whirred with electricity.

"Seems like it won't be too much longer now," he remarked and pulled out a notebook from his pocket to make a few calculations.

The crackling noise was deafening inside Airi's head. Yet, as it increased, it began to sound almost like a voice.

"...ri Citnalt..." the thunderous voice boomed.

"Who's there?" Airi called, recognizing her name.

"We are... terrible predicament..." the voice faded in and out of the surrounding static.

Straining with every effort possible, Airi tried to make out what the voice was saying.

"You... do not lose... cause your... humanity..." the voice continued as if unaware of any difficulty the girl was having.

"Who are you?" yelled Airi.

Static surged over all, but for a moment, the voice broke through, "...danger... release me..."

The static picked up again and the voice was lost completely.

* * *

Szayel kneeled before Aizen, who was seated on a large white throne.

"Your report?" the leader asked interestedly.

The pink haired man stood up and pulled his notebook out of his pocket, "The blonde is progressing rather quickly. I injected her with the tonic, as we planned, but what we didn't hypothesize was her reaction."

"Go on," Aizen instructed.

"Her aura started to develop. It's stronger than the level of the usual hollows, also as expected, but even more surprising is how much reiatsu she released," He handed the his notebook to Aizen who looked at the numbers scribbled with much interest.

"I see," Aizen handed the Espada the notebook. He grinned, everything was going according to plan, "Let me know what happens with the other girl."

"Of course, Aizen-sama."

* * *

When Airi awoke she found herself still strapped into the chair. She felt very stiff and attempted to move very slowly. Her left arm had stopped bleeding and so had her neck, she found as she reached up and felt the dried blood forming a scab. The static had receded from her mind and the room seemed eerily quiet. None of the machines were on. She wondered how long she'd been unconscious for.

A soft swishing noise in the hall made her heart start to race again. Was it the mad scientist back for more?

Instead a taller figure swept in silent as a shadow.

Airi recognized the man as one from the day she had been brought here. His strange helmet and exceedingly pale complexion were unmistakable.

A pale pair of hands released her arm from the restraints. "Can you stand, woman?" asked the man in a monotone.

Airi pushed herself to her feet stiffly, "Yes," she replied.

"Come," a one word command was issued.

The blonde followed the tall man out of the lab, grateful to leave it as far behind as she could.

By the time Airi was returned to the room, Zezuri was lying quietly on the bed and Grimmjow sat in the hall, not paying too much attention to anything. Zezuri noticed her friend's return and sat up.

"Airi, what happened!" she exclaimed.

Airi walked slowly to her bed.

"Tch, now even you're babysitting too, Ulquiorra?" remarked Grimmjow, not sure what to make of the higher level Espada's presence.

Ulquiorra remained silent and watched his charge make her way to her bed before departing. Only Grimmjow saw him leave.

"It was like a dream... a painful one..." Airi murmured.

Zezuri saw the puncture wounds on Airi's neck and winced, "What did he do?" she asked.

"He found out I didn't take the drink from last night. It looks like we're going to have to drink that green stuff one way or another... but he wouldn't say why..." Airi replied, putting a hand to her mildly aching head. "Are you okay?" she asked suddenly, wondering if they'd done something to Zezuri.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Zezuri left her eyes to the floor.

Grimmjow stirred in the hallway, sitting in a more comfortable position.

"I still feel so tired..." Airi laid down, the bed where sleep quickly overtook her again.

Zezuri sat up, still awake and observed her friend sleeping, while she tried to ponder on what would happen next. She tried to figure out why they were here, but not much was coming to her mind.

Glancing over to the blue haired man she wondered if these 'arrancar' were just as captive as she was to Aizen. From what she'd seen, he liked keeping power and using anyone he found useful for his own means.

But why her and Airi? They were plain, ordinary humans, just two young girls who went to school like everyone else. Could it be they just picked at random and they had been unlucky enough to be swept away? Or was there a deeper meaning to their capture? Like in those stories where someone had a hidden power? Zezuri moaned with frustration as these ideas were so ridiculous and way over her head.

Grimmjow looked into the room to see what all the fuss was about but quickly looked away as he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

Zezuri felt that they were safer with him than the other creeps, despite that he had almost killed her earlier. The fact that he didn't care made him less of a threat to the girls rather than being used by Aizen or experimented on by Szayel.

All this wondering made Zezuri sleepy as well, as she rested her head on the pillow.

* * *

Airi awoke to the sound of footsteps nearing her bed. She opened her eyes and sat up slowly. Her headache still lingered, but she'd slept rather soundly. A plate of toast was thrust in front of her, which she took wordlessly.

"Grimmjow, you can go," instructed a voice in the hallway as she heard the guard grunt.

"Good morning," Szayel called as he entered the room after the grunt delivering breakfast had left. He wasn't alone.

"Look who's bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning," remarked Gin. As Zezuri was still sleeping, Airi could only guess that he'd meant her.

Szayel looked at Zezuri's sleeping form, "Well, this won't do," he put a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently.

"Huh?" a very groggy Zezuri blinked a few times and sat up.

"Good morning sunshine!"

"Eyah!" Zezuri jumped back in surprise and horror of the Eighth Espada's wake up routine.

"Eat up! You're coming with me today!" he bantered happily.

If Zezuri had been anywhere close to hungry, she certainly wasn't now. Even Airi hadn't touched any of her food despite her stomach's protests.

"I don't want to," she looked up stubbornly at the creepy man.

He looked down on the defiant girl with an arched eyebrow, his voice became stern, "I suggest you eat in order to maintain all vital functions of your body. We don't need any complications later, do we?"

Zezuri let out a little "eep" and began to slowly eat her toast.

"Same goes to you, blondie," he admonished the other girl without turning to face her.

Airi bristled at the name but ate her toast and downed the glass of water. She guessed they weren't taking any more chances of her pouring the tonic down the drain.

Szayel waited patiently for the girls to finish eating before grabbing Zezuri lightly by the arm and guiding her out the door, leaving Airi and Gin behind.

Airi looked at the tall fox-like man. She'd seen him a few times before but now that she got a good look at him, she found that he lacked both the bone matter and hole of the arrancar.

Gin caught her questioning glance, "You're right, I'm not an arrancar," he stated.

She jumped, not realizing how obvious she must have been, "S-sorry," she stuttered.

"Nothin' to be apologizing about," he grinned, "I'm a shinigami."

"Huh?" Airi was taken aback, "Aren't those the people that kill hollows?" she asked recalling her conversation with Grimmjow.

"Yes, and no. Aizen, Tosen, and I all left those ways long ago," he remarked, "but that's not what I'm here to do. I'm supposed to teach you some swordplay today!"

* * *

Zezuri was brought to Szayel's lab as Airi had before.

"Sit," he said looking at the empty chair in the middle of the room. Then he walked over to his table cluttered with different tools, but he only grabbed the syringe that was identical to the one he used on Airi, filled with the same liquid.

Terror seized the poor brunette as she stared horrified at the needle. She wanted to scream but withheld it.

Szayel was impatient this time. He gently brushed his fingers through her brown locks before roughly grabbing a large handful hair. He yanked her head to the side as he moved some fabric of her collar to reveal her smooth neck.

"There there..." he said calmly, injecting the liquid into her body. Zezuri wouldn't cry out, no matter how much it hurt. She wished for it to end as silent tears streamed down her face.

When Szayel finished he gazed at her for a while, observing the girl react to the serum. But nothing happened, Zezuri didn't even feel any different.

"Hmm this is unexpected..." he said turning to toss the used needle into the trash.

He grabbed a flashlight from his desk that he used to examine her eyes. The bright light seemed to pierce Zezuri's retinas. But nothing was different about the girl, even after he checked all of her vital signs. Zezuri didn't ask anything, as she felt relieved there was no more pain, despite the stinging and burning on her neck.

"How disappointing. I guess you can go back to your room now," he summoned a grunt from further in his domain to escort Zezuri. She knew that on her account, it meant bad news.

Zezuri returned to the room to find that Airi was not there. She rubbed her eyes. The grunt who had escorted her was emitting some kind of blue hue as he walked away, but Zezuri didn't think anything of it as her eyes were already sore from crying. She suddenly started to feel very dizzy and fell to the floor.

"I think I'm going to throw up..." she thought, but her stomach held its contents.

Zezuri's head was ringing and her chest hurt more than ever. She felt like a burning car engine. No one seemed to be around to do anything as she collapsed onto the floor unconscious.

Airi had been surprised when Gin led her to a large empty room. She hadn't been sure what to expect when the ex-shinigami had mentioned sword fighting.

"Since you don't have your own sword yet, you get to use this," Gin tossed a bamboo shinai to Airi.

She caught it and was surprised at its weight.

Gin moved to stand next to Airi and drew his own sword.

Airi looked from the bamboo sticks bound together in her hand to the gleaming metal of Gin's sword.

"Don't worry," he chucked, "We won't be opponents just yet."

"Oh, okay," Airi sighed, relieved. She wasn't sure she was up to all of this yet.

He began to show her the basic swings and strikes, along with footwork and a few blocks.

* * *

Airi was struggling to lift her arms after what seemed like a whole day of practice. She wondered how much time had actually passed, but had no way of knowing.

"Okay, that'll be good for now," Gin called out, noticing Airi struggling. She had surprised him by being so obedient today; he'd heard from Szayel how much of a fight she'd put up yesterday. The girl actually wasn't too bad at sword play. She wasn't a natural, but she was picking the basics up at a decent rate.

Airi followed Gin out of the room, leaving the shinai up against the wall as she exited. It felt odd to be learning how to use a sword, but come to think of it, everyone around here carried one. She hadn't thought too much of it, but now she was starting to worry exactly why they all carried swords. And why bother teaching her? She wasn't anything special, was she?

They reached the room after a long walk in silence. Both were deep in their own thoughts.

"Airi!" Zezuri's voice burst through her friend's thoughts as she returned to the room.

Airi stopped and looked at her friend, a bandage adorned her neck, but nothing else seemed to have changed about Zezuri, "How are you feeling," she asked a little concerned nonetheless.

"Oh, uh, well, fine, I guess," she put a hand up to her neck, "It didn't go the way Szayel wanted."

"Huh?"

"I didn't react like you did, or at least I'm guessing. Nothing happened after he gave me the tonic."

Airi noticed her friend squinting, "Did he do something to your eyes?"

"Not really, just examined them with a light, but my vision's been blurring in and out since I got back. Everyone keeps getting fuzzy auras of light around them. Even you."

Airi put a hand to Zezuri's forehead.

"Hey!" she yelled stepping back, "I'm fine! Okay!"

A chuckle issued from Airi, "I believe you, just checking though," she concluded that Zezuri was probably just overtired and dropped the subject.

"Keep it down you two!" Luppi yelled from the doorway. He had been placed back on guard duty shortly after Zezuri had returned.

Both girls shot him a glare, but continued talking in a softer tone.

"So what did they do with you?" asked Zezuri, "you look beat!"

Airi sighed, "Gin was teaching me how to fight with a sword."

"Like a real one?"

"No, it was just a shinai, but the style wasn't kendo, it had more of a lethal feel to it," Airi remarked. The girls had visited an American dojo once, but the leader had been so full of himself that they'd found it rather off putting."I'm not sure I like where this is going."

Zezuri gulped. She hadn't really thought about the swords that everyone but them carried. She looked over at Luppi and saw that he too had one slung through his belt, "What could they possibly want from us?"

"I guess we'll find out at this rate."

"Yeah..."

Just as the two girls had begun to settle down and wait for food, Szayel showed up in the doorway.

"Time for another check up, miss," a reflection in his glasses showed he was clearly looking to Zezuri.

Zezuri attempted to rejected every ounce of obedience, but felt herself standing on the floor and walking towards him. She couldn't think anymore, instead she watched her feet move on their own, her eyes on the ground.

Airi watched her leave in dismay, but it seemed to her that the serum didn't have the same effect on Zezuri as it did her. She thought maybe it was different for the each of them, but she hoped it wasn't putting Zezuri through the same hell.

Szayel had his fingers pressed to Zezuri's neck, feeling her pulse, but nothing different seemed to be happening again. He looked down at her with disappointment as she looked around the room awkwardly. She wondered if they would try some other barbaric means of getting what they wanted from her.

"Aizen-sama has allowed me to use another form of torture on you." he laughed jokingly.

"Now he just wants to kill me..." thought Zezuri. She was not amused as her own fears had seemingly become true.

Szayel had gone into another room and then came out with a small gadget.

"This armlet was designed to radiate constant spiritual pressure into your body. For you it may hurt, these are for arrancar who need a boost while fighting," he placed it around her wrist and locked it.

Zezuri didn't feel too much at first, but then her whole arm felt a crushing and burning sensation. She wasn't sure what Syazel had meant by 'spiritual pressure', but then again, she was too scared to care.

"It will be weak at first but the longer you wear it, the stronger the feeling will become," he instructed. He then helped her to the door.

* * *

Grimmjow was already in the hall on his night watch duty as Szayel returned a weak looking Zezuri. The blue haired espada continued to ignore them as Zezuri entered the room.

"I'll be back in a couple of days to check on you," Szayel said and then left.

Airi helped Zezuri over to her bed as she almost fell over.

"What is this?" she asked, looking at Zezuri's wrist.

"Some kinda bracelet. It's supposed to radiate that spiritual pressure into my body. My arm feels like it's going to fall off! And everything seems to keep getting brighter and brighter!" she explained.

"Maybe you should get some sleep. Too bad they don't seem to have a bath here. That would feel nice," Airi sighed.

"We do have a bath. It's not like we are a bunch of dirty rats!" Grimmjow exclaimed, startling the unexpecting girls.

"It feels like I haven't bathed in days! Can you take us to it?" Zezuri asked.

Grimmjow regretted for joining the conversation again.

After another long journey down the halls, they came to a dimly lit room that looked more like a cave. There was a waterfall in the back with a pool for bathing.

"Are we going to get eaten by some sort of sea monster?" Airi asked as this was not at all she was expecting as a bath.

"Where do we change?" Zezuri began to turn red.

"Well you wanted a damn bath and this is it, so stop whining!" Grimmjow grew frustrated with the girls constant complaints.

Aizen then appeared with two arrancar grunts who had coincidentally brought two long cloths meant to be used as towels.

"I see you have found the baths. I'm sure you will be needing these," the motioned the two arrancar to hand over the towels to the girls.

"U-um is it really necessary for everyone to be here?" Zezuri asked, very embarrassed.

"Oh I am sorry. We will leave you, and Grimmjow will be sure to wait in the hall," Aizen said as the two grunts left. "But be careful, there is a horrible monster at the bottom of the pool."

Zezuri and Airi looked at each other as all appetite for bathing had left them.

"Sorry, that was a joke. Enjoy," he left with a clever smile on his face.

"Why do I have to wait outside again? I'm tired of this!" Grimmjow was having trouble keeping his rage in check again.

"You want to see us naked, you perv!" Airi yelled as the room echoed.

Grimmjow had nothing to say as his cheeks developed a slight pink hue.

"And don't even think about peeking!" Zezuri scolded as he went out into the hall.

Grimmjow left them to change as he sat angrily on the floor. "Like there is anything to look at..." he said under his breath.

Both girls left the towels wrapped around them as they stepped into the pool.

"It feels so nice," Airi said, relaxing.

"T-there really isn't a monster, right?" Zezuri worried.

"Please, I have had it with them trying to scare us. I won't let them ruin our one moment of relaxation," Airi answered annoyed.

"I wonder if this bracelet is waterproof," the brunette said, sticking her arm under the water. With nothing happening, she continued to submerge herself.

The two girls continued talking, trying to forget where they were and not think about all the bad things to come. Bathing made them feel normal again.

"Say... Zezuri..." Airi broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think anyone has noticed we're missing yet?"

The question found Zezuri off guard; her friend had been keeping such thoughts to herself until now.

For a moment, only the sounds of lone droplets of water falling were heard from further back in the cavern.

"O-of course they have!" Zezuri shouted suddenly, "I'm sure everyone's really worried and looking for us!"

"Y-yeah," agreed Airi, splashing some water on her face, "Say, think that guy that tripped over you has noticed you aren't in his way anymore?"

"Whaaa?" Zezuri's face turned a slight pink hue as Airi let out a laugh, "Yeah, well, I'm sure your English teacher misses you zoning out in his classes!" she retorted.

Airi laughed harder and splashed water at her friend, "Psh, sure! I could have taught that class better than he was!"

"HEY! You two done YET?" yelled Grimmjow.

* * *

_Obligatory bath scene. Chev's idea. Questions, comments and suggestions please! I love hearing everyone's thoughts and we do take the occasional suggestion into account. -Airumel_


	6. Where the Weak Get Eaten

_Warning, this chapter is shorter than the last two. But I bet you'll enjoy it anyways. :D -Airumel_

* * *

-Chapter 6-

Back in Karakura, the high school was still in a state of shock. Two students, who many were sure they'd seen at school the morning of the incident had been found dead of food poisoning in their apartment. Contaminated tofu, the report had read, as a very over date container of the fermented food had been found open on the kitchen table.

But one man knew the truth. Kisuke Urahara had known the risk of Aizen knowing about what he had created. He just hadn't expected him to come so soon and in such large numbers. Ichigo Kurosaki was none the wiser on why Aizen had attacked his school during the day with no warning, but Urahara knew it was only a matter of time before the young man saw through his hasty cover-up. Despite needing to recover what he'd lost, the shopkeeper knew there was a chance to fix the situation without a full out war between Hueco Mundo and Karakura spiritually aware.

Now that darkness had once again covered the city with a moonless sky, the banished captain strode down an alleyway looking for place to hide the contents of his pockets.

"Eh, that you, Kisuke?" a voice curiously asked.

The man jumped back, startled by the voice even though it was familiar, "Oh, hello, Shinji! How are you and the rest doing?"

"Eh, the usual, just staying under the radar and reading whatever Lisa finds," a tall man with chin-length blonde hair stepped from a shadowy doorway.

Urahara continued looking about, "That's good," he replied without much interest.

Shinji arched an eyebrow, "You wouldn't be up to something, now would you be?"

"Who, me? I'm never up to anything!" a nervous laugh escaped from the accused, "Well, at least nothing serious."

The other man looked over Urahara, "Well, if you say so, I guess I'll see you around!" he gave a wave and vanished back into the darkness.

Urahara sighed. He desperately hoped that Shinji and his group would not get involved with his current mess. He'd hurt them enough already. He came along to a burned out lamp on a short post. "That will work," he thought.

* * *

Days passed as Airi trained in sword play with Gin and Zezuri was left to wander about escorted by either or her usual guards.

"What do you have to report, Gin?"

The former captain of the third division stood before his leader's throne. Szayel knelt beside where Gin was standing in the otherwise empty throne room.

"Airi has made substantial progress, yet she holds back her full ability. I believe she suspects us," Gin chuckled, "It's clear she doesn't trust any of us."

Aizen nodded, "I expected as much, though she seems a little more resistant than I had initially guessed."

"Aizen-sama, if I may," Szayel spoke.

The leader silently gave his approval for the Espada to speak.

"On the topic of the blonde, she has reiatsu off the chart; she should be much stronger than what Gin-sama has informed me of. It surprises me she has not succumbed to the hunger for power she must be feeling by now with the tonic running in her system."

"I think she is more powerful than we thought, but if she can not reach that power, then she is of no use to us," remarked Gin.

The expression on Aizen's face remained neutral, "What of the other girl?"

"Zezuri seems to be experiencing early-stage development of shinigami-like powers," the researcher pulled out his notebook and flipped through it, "Though weak in reiatsu and completely resistant to the tonic despite increases to its concentration, she appears to be aware of the reiatsu of others. My guess it that she can see it visibly over her normal vision, but she has not made any mention of it to me. I believe she may trust Espada Six, however. Whether or not either or them are aware of it, she seems comfortable in his presence."

Aizen's eyes narrowed, the girl's lack of power was concerning and not what he had expected at all. Why did only one girl display such amplified powers and the other resemble a Shinigami, he could not say, "Gin, Szayel, listen closely," he addressed his minions...

The next morning, or whatever time it actually was in Hueco Mundo, Aizen returned to the Girls room, followed by Szayel and Ulquiorra.

Airi and Zezuri were surprised as this visit seemed different than usual. They also noticed their regular guards were not there when they awake a few moments ago. Aizen and the others remained silent as Szayel strided over to Zezuri and gave her another short checkup to see if anything changed.

After brief moments of silence, Szayel shook his head in Aizen's direction as he returned with a short nod.

"What's going on?" asked Zezuri confused.

"Your presence is no longer required," Aizen responded stoically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Airi demanded with her anger rising, "Why don't you people ever explain anything!"

Just as Ulquiorra was coming over to remove the brunette, Airi stepped in front of him.

"I know you aren't returning her back home! If you kill her, you'll have to kill me too!"

But Airi's threats were in vain as Ulquiorra effortlessly struck her down with his hand, knocking her unconscious. He continued in Zezuri's direction, grabbing her by the arm.

Zezuri began to show restraint and attempted to pull away but the Espada's grip was iron as he drug her out of the room.

"AIRI!" Zezuri yelled out as she continued to struggle.

Ulquiorra kept pulling her down the hallway with the distraught girl still yelling and struggling.

"Let me go! You're hurting me!" she began to hit him with her free hand.

"Aizen has instructed me to relieve him of the useless 'Trash'," he finally spoke.

They arrived at the entrance which Zezuri gazed at with confusion.

"I thought you were-" she was then cut off.

"No one wants to take them time to have your blood on their hands. You can wander out here until your imminent death," he said, as the doors opened.

He shoved her out into the desert, and shut the doors quickly behind her.

"Wait-!" it was too late as the giant doors were already closed.

Zezuri didn't know what to do. She couldn't get through the doors even though she pounded on them and pleaded to be let back in. She looked behind her in awe at the vast desert and then turned her head to wherever she heard a distant howl.

"I'm going to get eaten..." she thought.

She continued to look about, hoping to see a safer place to hide. But it was futile as there was nothing on the horizon except more sand. Looking down at the course material beneath her, she let some slide between her fingers before dusting herself off.

"I've got to try..." she decided as she began to walk off into the distance.

* * *

Airi came to shortly after Zezuri was cast out. The lights were dim again, which the girls took to be the arrancars way signalling the night time. It was almost as if these lights resembled the sun, being so bright in almost total darkness, except for the moon.

Grimmjow was just returning to his shift and found Airi to be alone.

"Is she with Szayel or somethin'?" he asked.

Airi sat in silence as she recalled the moments before she was knocked out. "No she... she's..." Airi began to cry into her hands, believing her best friend to be dead.

Ulquiorra appeared in the doorway to inform Grimmjow of the situation but before he could say a word, Airi was up and charging at the dark Espada.

"You bastard!" some kind of pressure flowed from her body but Ulquiorra stopped her again blocking her strike with his forearm.

"I didn't kill her. I do not even know if she is dead yet. If she is smart enough, she probably found refuge, but that is unlikely. The Hollows react quickly to the scent of a human," his doomful gaze remained on Airi until she backed off.

Airi felt a sense of relief but still feared for her friend's life.

"Huh...I guess it was only a matter of time..." muttered Grimmjow averting his eyes over to the window.

"How dare you! Zezuri isn't weak, she can make it out of here! I know she will!" Airi retorted.

"On her own? It looked more to me that she relied on you more than anything. Without someone to shelter her, she is useless and weak. You just need to accept it," Ulquiorra said cooly but it felt like knives to Airi as it was a truth she didn't want to believe.

"I don't believe you. She may not have physical strength, but she's at least a better person than either of you! Or anyone here!" As Airi's temper rose she found herself wanting power more than ever. Power to take down the dark haired Espada who towered over her, to save Zezuri, to get home. She clenched her hands into fists wanting it all so bad.

Grimmjow growled, "I don't see why Aizen didn't just throw you out too! After all, you're nothing but a weakling too!"

Airi shifted her glare to the guard still seated in the doorway. He did have a point though, why hadn't she been thrown out as well. The brief thought flashed through her mind, but left terror in its passing.

"What's all this racket for?" a fourth figure entered the room.

"None of your concern, Starrk," muttered Grimmjow.

"It's classified on Aizen-sama's orders," Ulquiorra spoke at the same moment.

A frown crossed the other Espada's face as he arched an eyebrow, "Okay, then, I won't ask." Silently he wondered what Aizen was up to. He felt a questioning gaze upon him.

Airi stared at Starrk, recognizing him from when she and Zezuri had just been brought here, "They've thrown out Zezuri!" She choked out through her anger and rage.

Starrk blinked, "Is that so?" he spoke softly while trying to fit the pieces together.

Tears formed in Airi's eyes. Why had she just blurted that? This man wouldn't help Zezuri. He was in league with all the rest.

"Heeeeey! Staaaaaaarrrrkk!" a female voice called from down the hall, "Come out, come out where ever you are!"

The brown-haired Espada sighed, "Lilynette, I'm in here," he spoke as a scantily clad female arrancar passed by the door.

She jumped, "Hey! That's not how you play hide and seek!" Lilynette made a quick pouting face to Starrk before realizing there were others present, "Oh hey! A party!"

Grimmjow wondered how Starrk managed to put up with his fraccion. If any of his had ever acted in such a crazy manner he would have seen to their destruction personally.

Ulquiorra stared emotionlessly at Airi, ignoring Lilynette.

"No, not a party. I was just passing by, looking for somewhere quiet to take a nap. Away from you."

"Awwww! But Staaarrrk! That's all you ever do!"

"If you were ever quiet, then maybe I'd get some decent sleep..."

The two glared at each other briefly.

"Can you two take your lover's spat somewhere else?" moaned Grimmjow.

Starrk and his fraccion gave the blue haired Espada a disgusted look.

"Airi, was it? You shouldn't blame these two, they're just following Aizen's orders. And his word is law around here," Starrk and Lilynette exited the room.

The words of the other Espada slowly sunk in as Airi sank down to her bed. She made a mental note to apologize to Grimmjow; after all he'd never hurt her. But, as for Ulquiorrra, she still raged at him for knocking her unconscious.

"I must return to Aizen-sama," stated Ulquiorra as he too left the room.

Grimmjow let out a sigh of relief; peace and quiet at last.

Airi stretched out on her bed trying to figure out a new plan of escape. Maybe she wouldn't be able to protect Zezuri, but she wasn't about to let her friend die alone in the monster-infested desert.

* * *

Zezuri felt as if she wandered for hours, and her legs couldn't take anymore. She sat quietly on a high dune, alone with her thoughts. She wondered what would become of Airi, then she thought about home again.

"I wonder what that Ichigo boy is up to?" she smiled remembering one of the few people she'd actually talked with at school.

She tried thinking about what would of life have been like if this never happened. Airi would of gone on to be a scientist of some sort, and Zezuri still felt undecided about anything. High school came so fast, she never thought about her future before. It certainly wouldn't of had any of this in it.

Zezuri stood once again to continue her trek in the desert. As she began to walk, she noticed the ground shift beneath her feet.

"W-woah-" she had no time to think as the sand fell into the ground and so did she.

She continued to fall into darkness and braced herself for the ground but felt something catch her in midair.

They landed on a nearby tree, bare of leaves and just a lighter shade of black than the night sky. Once Zezuri got a good look at her rescuer she let out a scream. Though the arms that held her were human, a frightening mask shielded the face of the figure and his back was covered in fur.

"Silence! The Menos will hear us..." it spoke softly with a deep voice, putting his hand over her mouth to stop the screaming.

Zezuri nodded silently, not knowing what a menos was, but deciding that she didn't want to find out just yet.

The strange figure brought her to a cave that looked like it had been lived in for a long time. Zezuri was placed on her feet as she backed away, trying to get a better view of the figure who saved her.

The man who had saved her wore a large horned mask, that had frightened her earlier. He also had a woolen cloak and a tattered black uniform. Now certain they were safe for the moment, he removed the mask and cloak to reveal his true form. He had shaggy dark auburn hair, free of any bone fragment, and Zezuri didn't seem to notice any hole on his body like the Arrancars did.

"Who are you? How did you get here?" he began to ask.

Zezuri was taken aback by the sudden intensity of the questions.

"I'm sorry, it's just... I thought I sensed something odd and then all of a sudden, a human spirit falls on me out of nowhere!" He laughed in attempt to lighten the mood, noticing her nervously fidget with the hem of her cape, "It's not every decade that I get a visitor, you know."

"I-I'm Zezuri," the girl began nervously, "I was brought here by a man n-named A-Aizen, and..." he voice wavered.

The man then noticed the metal bracelet on her wrist. Zezuri noticed what he was looking at and held it up.

"T-they put this on me..." she began to explain but then was surprised when the stranger drew his sword and grabbed her arm.

"Hey...!" she said startled but he continued to raise his weapon and quickly struck the device, breaking it off her wrist.

"Thank you?" she was confused. The bracelet didn't have much effect on her anymore, she had almost forgot it was on her arm.

"Sorry, it was suspicious. They can't hurt you here anymore," he sheathed his sword, "I am Ashido, and I'm... a Shinigami..."

* * *

Meanwhile Gin was in some sort of control room watching a large monitor.

Grimmjow managed to walk by and noticed Zezuri on the screen, moments before her bracelet was removed, "I see how it is, this was part of a plan," he said bitterly. He was quite frustrated of Aizen playing games in his domain.

"Tsk cat's out of the bag!" Gin replied. " The bracelet was a diversion. Throwing her out was Aizen's actual plan."

"What makes you guys think they have any power at all? They'll just turn on you," Grimmjow said.

"No they won't. You haven't." Gin smiled. "Neither have the rest of you. All Aizen needs is you to fear him and you will do his bidding."

Grimmjow felt like nothing would please him more then breaking Gin's neck. He hated anyone questioning his abilities and making him the weak servant. Before Aizen, Grimmjow was a King, and he fought and killed, devouring his way to the top and becoming an Espada. He had joined AIzen's forces in hopes of becoming even more powerful, but now he was just some lacky being tossed around because of these two girls Aizen had brought into their world. And for what purpose? No one had felt that he should know!

"Don't go trying to screw up Aizen's plans now, Grimmjow. Using the ladies to get revenge won't have any benefit to you," Gin warned wily.

* * *

Airi couldn't sleep. Ever since Szayel had injected her with the tonic, she hadn't had any nightmares, that at least she was thankful for, but tonight, sleep would not come.

Grimmjow had returned to replace Luppi hours ago. He'd seemed quite troubled by something, an expression of which Airi had never seen on the Espada's face. Occasionally he glanced at her, but never spoke.

"May I come in?" an all too familiar voice made Airi cringe.

Grimmjow grunted and admitted Szayel, who walked in and set a tray on the bed next to Airi.

She sat up and looked up at him bleakly.

"Here's your dinner," he gave an mocking bow.

Airi looked at the food, but decided against eating once she saw the contents of the mug.

Szayel gazed down at the girl, "I'd advise you drink that or we'll be taking a trip to my laboratory."

Fearing her safety, Airi picked up the glass and chugged its contents. Before she could place the cup back on the tray, a burning sensation consumed her. "Ahhh!" she yelled in pain, the cup fell to the floor and shattered.

The Eighth Espada took a step backwards as power surged in unstable waves from the girl.

"What the hell did you just do?" Yelled Grimmjow, leaping to his feet, "Where's that power coming from?"

A chuckle issued from Szayel which grew into laughter, "All part of the plan, Grimmjow!"

"Dammit! What plan?"

Airi was unable to hear anything more; something thundered in her mind blocking out all other sound, but it was incomprehensible. The burning feeling surged through every limb of her body. She wanted nothing more than to jump out of her skin. Then, the pain receded all at once, as if she had fallen into a pool of water. The room came back into focus and all she saw was an onlooker in the hallway before she passed out and crumpled on her bed.

Szayel had left before Airi had collapsed, to make his report to Aizen, only after dodging all of Grimmjow's questions. Now only the blue haired Espada remained sitting in the doorway trying to make sense of what he had just seen.

Ulquiorra swept in silently.

Airi lay in a rather uncomfortable position on the bed; her hair was in the food on the tray that Szayel had left behind. She breathed deeply, fast asleep.

Making sure he didn't step in the broken ceramic on the floor, the Fourth Espada moved the tray off the bed. He gazed at her briefly and left the room as silently as he had entered.

* * *

Aishido decided to let the girl sleep after all the wandering in the desert she done earlier. He got all the information he could out of her about the presence of Aizen in Hueco Mundo.  
"Something must of happened in the Soul Society..." he thought.

He had a fire built and tossed in the metal bracelet he removed from Zezuri's arm, realizing it to be a tracking device. He decided to not tell the girl to keep her from worrying further.

"They will return for her... She must still be of value to them..." Ashido continued to ponder.

Zezuri began to stir awake, drawn to the warm the of the fire.

"Did you sleep well? I'm sorry the floor of a cave isn't the most comfortable of surfaces," Ashido apologized.

"It's alright. The beds there were the same, but this cave is more cozy than that place," she said politely. "I was always afraid that Szayel guy would come from me in the night and kill me..."

"What a horrible man... I'm sorry that all this has had to happen to the two of you. I still don't understand myself..." Ashido began to quietly think to himself again. He wasn't used to having company around to talk to.

"They kept trying to make us powerful by putting spirit energy into us with a serum. I don't know why they would choose us..." Zezuri spoke, hoping Ashido would have some answers.

"No... they wouldn't of just choose two strange girls... unless..." Ashido finally realized the truth, "You never noticed?" he asked the confused Zezuri.

"Notice what?" she knit her brow.

"In the human world... nothing strange happened to you?"

"No... not until a few days before they kidnapped us."

"You must of had the power with you all along... they weren't trying to give you power... You already had it."

Zezuri was stunned, she could not believe she had any power before. She never did anything that made her a freak of nature like some kind of superhero. "That's impossible..." words escaped her mouth. The idea had never crossed her mind.

"From what you told me, you can notice spiritual energy. And the presence I sensed before I caught you... It's almost like you're a Shinigami..." Ashido could also not believe it, but it was all too possible. "But you'd have to be..." he suddenly grabbed her by her shoulders and looked her in the eyes, "Is your chain of fate severed!" he asked.

Zezuri was at a loss but then recalled a dream from the first night she slept in Hueco Mundo, when a chain connected to her chest had broken apart.

"It was a just a dream I thought..." she said.

"Then you are some sort of Shinigami..."

Her face changed to grief as the girl realized the truth, "I-I'm... already dead..." she began to panic, her body trembling. Zezuri remained motionless, as she clenched her chest. "I-I can never go home?" she began to shriek with despair, but then she started to emit a large amount of spiritual energy.

"Zezuri!" Ashido called out but the force of pressure was keeping him away from the brunette.

* * *

_What will happen to the girls? Will Zezuri survive the Menos forest and come to terms with her death? What's going on with Airi? Find out next time! XD -Airumel (and yeah, I'm a scientist in real life, a biologist, actually)  
_


	7. POWER

_Another chapter up quick for all you who wanted it! -Airumel_

* * *

-Chapter 7-

When Airi came to, she found herself completely alone. Her head felt muddled as she sat up slowly trying to figure out what had happened, "I just had the weirdest dream..." she groaned looking over to the other side of the room before realizing that Zezuri wasn't there. In an overwhelming rush all of the memories from the day before became clear in her mind. She felt so alone without her friend, but then she noticed she was more alone than she'd thought.

No guard was seated in the doorway.

Cautiously, Airi crept towards the doorway, but no one was sitting around the corner outside either. In fact the whole hallway was empty as far as she could see. "Now's my chance!" she thought excitedly.

She sprinted down one hall and turned down another and another. Everywhere seemed completely deserted. Airi was too exhilarated with the thought of escape and finding Zezuri that she didn't even wonder why she hadn't run into anyone yet or really think too much about where she was going. She just needed to get out.

As she came to the end of a hallways, she found a large set of doors as her only option. Heart-pounding with adrenaline, she slowly pushed one on the doors outward, praying that it wouldn't squeak. When the door had opened just enough for her to slip through, Airi found herself entering the large foyer room she recognized as the entrance from the desert. Elated with hope she rushed for the doors that would grant her freedom.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a voice chided her.

Airi came to a sudden stop in her run, "Who are you?" she didn't recognize the dark skinned man who now blocked the door in front of her.

"I am the envoy of justice, Kaname Tosen," he introduced himself with a plain tone.

Airi slowly approached the door. She wasn't letting this man or anyone stop her today.

Noticing the blonde's intent, he continued, "I think you should reconsider your intentions. Letting you go outside would be unjust; you would soon be eaten by the countless hollow out there."

Her pace remained steady.

"Very well, if you won't listen to reason then you'll have to be stopped by force," he clicked a button on a device in his hand.

Loud roars and growls filled the hall as several large hollows entered from other doors. All three were built like super-sized bears with long tails and all had one goal; to eat the human spirit.

"Since you are unarmed, I cannot be your opponent," Tosen explained.

In a flash all three hollows were charging at Airi.

She dodged to the left as she saw one making a grab for her and then to the back as another came forward. However, in her haste, she tripped on the outstretched leg of the third.

The hollows roared and all reached for the fallen girl at the same moment.

Seeing the large dark claws reaching for her, Airi rolled backwards and scrambled up to her feet. Soon the hollows were charging after her again.

As her breathing became heavier, Airi knew she was running out of time before she'd lose.

"When you give up, let me know and I will take you back to your cell," Tosen commented in his monotone.

Airi's blood near boiled from the comment; he was letting these hollows play with her.

"As you can see, you're safe in here where we can protect you from them. But outside, you're sure to meet your demise."

One of the hollows unleashed a sudden burst of speed and placed itself in front of Airi. She stopped in an attempt to turn, but in those few seconds, the other two had caught up. A clawed arm slammed into the girl sending her flying off across the floor. Despite the wind being knocked out of her, Airi struggled to recover, but a heavy force pushed her to the floor.

"This can't be how it ends!" Thought Airi furiously, "I won't let it!" She heard a cracking noise from her back and realized is she didn't do something quick all of her ribs would snap.

"Airi..." a faint thundering voice called in her mind. Images blurred through the girl's mind as she came to an understanding of what she could do.

Focusing on her free left arm, she willed her power to collect within it.

The hollows growled and all but the one that held her backed away in surprise as a blue-green light collected under her hand.

Airi felt something solid form under her palm as she curled her fingers around it. A sword, she realized. She'd summoned a sword! Every ounce of exhaustion left her with this new knowledge. She wasn't powerless anymore!

The hollow that had her pinned was surprised too and had let off just enough weight that Airi could slip out from under its leg. It roared in outrage as its prey turned on it and in one well aimed strike to the head, vanquished it.

Noticing their fellow's demise, the other two sought to take advantage of the situation and charged at the unsuspecting girl from behind. Yet the loud pounding of their feet on the bare tile floor alerted Airi to their attack. She was a blur as she sliced through one mask and then the other. The large forms dropped to the floor and disintegrated into dust.

Solo applause was heard from the door. Tosen stood slowly clapping his hands together, "Very impressive, now I'll be your opponent."

* * *

Ashido was trying to quickly calm down Zezuri before she hurt herself. But she could no longer come back to reality on her own, she had already lost herself to the power consuming her body.

"I must stop her quickly before she destroys herself..." he tried to think.

The pressure had become stronger and Ashido was finding it difficult to stay standing. Zezuri's chest was glowing and she had reeled her body over backwards, her back arching off the ground. The energy emitting from her was beginning to destroy her body as blood began to burst from her skin.

Ashido made his way over to her and quickly chanted something. He pressed his hand to her chest to contain the power source, but the power was so strong, his hand began to burn. Despite the pain, he did not move it.

The spiritual pressure Zezuri was emitting began to die down and eventually diminished completely. She lay on the floor, barely conscious with Ashido looking over her, also looking very exhausted.

"I've managed to suppress it... for now," he said suddenly holding his hand in pain.

Zezuri sat up wearily, and began to sob quietly.

"I-I'm so sorry...!" she apologized.

"Don't fret, I'll be alright... This is fixable." he tried to reassure her. "I've contained you spiritual pressure into a more stable state... I can teach you how to use it properly..." Ashido's head began to nod as he suddenly fainted.

"H-Hey! What's wrong...?" lifting his head, she tried to revive him in vain. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she sat alone in the dark, Ashido's head resting on her lap. She held his burnt hand in her own, wondering how that would even happen.

"There must be something I can do..." she thought. "Please... I need to use this power..." Zezuri pleaded. She didn't even notice her wounds from before had completely healed.

* * *

The sword in Airi's hand glistened softly as she looked it over. Just shorter than her practice sword, it was made of a very light colored steel. As she tilted the blade from left to right she saw the blue-green energy ripple through it as if it were made of liquid energy. She felt its power resonating within herself, yet it seemed severely muted.

"I'll be your opponent now," Tosen repeated, interrupting her analysis.

Airi looked up from her new found weapon.

"Or will you stand down?"

"Never," spat Airi, charging in a bit recklessly. She did not notice Tosen pressing another button on the device he was holding.

Knowing she had to make this quick, Airi aimed for the dark man's head.

A loud clang rang out as metal met metal; Tosen had drawn his sword faster than Airi could blink.

"That may have worked on those hollows, but you'll find the power of true justice to be well beyond anything you can muster," he pushed off on her sword to back up a few feet.

Airi staggered backwards, slightly off balance.

Her opponent surged forth aiming for a quick slice to her shoulder.

But this wasn't Airi's first sword fight. After all, she'd been training with Gin for quite some time. Instinctively, she raised her sword to block.

The two exchanged blows for some time. Airi was wearing out, she knew this, but escape was within her grasp. She couldn't lose!

"Gin has taught you well, but still, you're no match for me," Tosen suddenly vanished and appeared on the other side of the room.

Airi looked at her now distant opponent in shock. How could he move so fast? She shook her head, dismissing all negative thoughts. If he was fast, she would be faster. She quickly closed her eyes. Again focusing her energy, she imagined a surge of power pushing her at Tosen. Forcing her eyes open she found herself launching up at her enemy. Raising both arms above her head, she prepared for a knockout blow.

Pain surged through her body as if she'd been suddenly shot in the chest.

I'm hit! She panicked, but her opponent stood motionlessly. A cruel smirk began on his face as he sheathed his sword.

"W-what's going on?" she yelled as she rose to her feet. Another burst of pain caused the blonde to crumple to the floor and let go of her sword.

Tosen stepped forth and kicked the weapon out of her reach, "All part of Aizen-sama's plan," he smirked.

"Wha-?" Airi was cut off as a white substance burst forth from her eyes, nose, and mouth.

* * *

Zezuri continued to sob over Ashido, she felt as if she should give up and let them be eaten by hollows. But she remembered Airi and knew her best friend would never give up. She knew Airi would be fighting with everything she had to stay alive.

"I can't stop now..." she said quietly as her palms started to glow with a blue hue. She looked at them, slightly afraid, but she realized she had to own up to the responsibility given to her. She didn't know any special spells, but all she thought about was how much she wanted Ashido to heal. She clasped his hand and began to hope and wished with all her might that his arm would heal and Ashido would awaken.

And to her surprise his wounded arm was returning to normal in a matter of seconds. Ashido's eyes began to open as Zezuri managed to heal him completely.

* * *

Meanwhile, Grimmjow sat alone with his thoughts in an empty hallway. He suddenly stood and began to pace angrily. He wanted to get rid of Aizen or at least stop getting pushed around. The blue haired espada thought about the young girl who had gotten thrown out a few days before. He knew where she was and how Aizen still needed her. If Grimmjow could use her to sabotage Aizen he would, regardless of the risks of being terminated.

"She's in the Menos Forest with that Shinigami... I could get there in a couple hours and hide her somewhere else..." he said making up his mind.

He headed towards the back entrance in full pace as he was watched on a distant camera, hidden in the hall.

Gin's face glowed from the monitor screen reflection in the dark room as he watched Grimmjow leave the premises. He had a brief idea what he was up after their discussion from before. The fox faced man had begun to think it would be more interesting if he kept this secret to himself as he quietly grinned with amusement.

* * *

The ex-captain of the ninth division listened with satisfaction at the scene in front of him.

"Tell me what's, ugh... what's happening to me?" shouted the terrified girl. She lay on the floor convulsing in pain as a thick gaseous substance slowly streamed out from her eyes, nose, and mouth.

"Your powers are converting," Tosen stated and continued to gaze in her direction. Little did Airi know that behind his visor, Tosen's eyes were unseeing. He was trying to agitate the girl in any way he could.

Airi opened her mouth to make a retort, but suddenly the pain intensified, rendering her speechless as it concentrated at one spot in her chest just below her neck. Unable to even scream, she watched in horror as the white gaseous matter became denser and covered her face. The last thing she remembered before fading out was the feeling of utmost despair.

* * *

"Airi..." a voice called over the sound of gently crashing waves. The girl stirred lightly, but remained unresponsive. A wave rushed in gently, pulling her blonde hair as it swept back out into the ocean.

"Awaken," the voice called again.

Airi's eyes opened just enough that she could see the rocky shore of the bare island that had frequented her dreams. The sound of light sobs caught her attention. She turned her head in the direction of the sound.

A young girl around her own age sat just above the shoreline with her back to Airi. She wore a white dress cut low in the back revealing two small wing-like tattoos in a blue-green color. Her hair was dark black with purple highlights and shorter in the back than in the front. The girl's body shook as she sobbed.

"Who are you?" Airi wanted to ask, but found herself unable to do more than watch. She tried to get up but found that she also lacked the strength to do more than move her head.

Growing more frustrated by the second, Airi soon realized that the tide was coming in as well, "Not again!" she thought frantically. She'd never had a fear of drowning until these dreams started. Despite even her best efforts, she couldn't manage to move even an inch. Surely she would drown! Even though she was sure this was a dream, desperation to live surged through her.

The girl on the beach appeared not to notice the tide rushing in or the sky darkening. Waves surged around her, but she remained oblivious.

"Look out!" Airi suddenly managed to yell.

The girl looked over at Airi with large purple eyes set in her tear stricken face. A huge wave came up before her. She raised her arms and gave a smile as it crashed down over the whole island.

* * *

Szayel had just finished reparations when Ulquiorra arrived carrying an unconscious hollow.

"Go ahead and set her down over there," he motioned the Fourth Espada to an empty chair. Working in conjunction with the higher Espada still unnerved the Eighth, but these were Aizen-sama's orders and he was obligated to follow them despite how much he feared the others.

Gin and Aizen entered the room following Ulquiorra's silent exit.

"What's the status?" Aizen asked.

"Stable, at the very least," Szayel replied. He hadn't begun to do a full analysis just yet. Looking over at the unconscious form of the girl turned hollow, he felt a sense of pride that his experiment had worked so well. The girl's body had maintained its human form. A hole now peered out in the middle of her chest while a white mask completely obscured her face. Remarking over the detail, the experimenter noticed it looked like an owl's face. He turned back to Aizen, "It would appear that she is not the one, however."

Aizen nodded, "I had suspected as much. We will need to retrieve the other shortly."

Gin's usual grin widened just a little, "I believe someone has already taken on that job."

The leader arched an eyebrow in understanding. A new plan formed in his mind. He was well aware that Grimmjow was among the most likely to rebel, but he knew just how to reign in the battle-crazed flunky.

A beep from a machine behind them sent the pink-haired Espada whirling around towards it. Quickly scanning over the output, a grin crossed his face.

"What's up?" asked Gin.

The smile kept on Szayel's face, "Not only is she stable, but her power is very strong. Clearly into the Adjuchas stage, but judging by her human form, I wouldn't be surprised if she was stronger than that."

"Excellent progress, Szayel. We will leave you to your work now," Aizen and Gin left the room.

The Espada quickly began scribbling out equations in his notebook, excited for what would come next.

* * *

Ashido awoke the next morning only to notice that Zezuri had disappeared from the cave. He ran outside to find her trying to concentrate on her newfound powers.

"Here let me help..." he said calmly after noticing she had no idea what she was doing.

"Oh, you're awake," Zezuri laughed nervously.

"You just need to be patient. Concentrate all of your being into your target," Ashido gently lifted her hands. "Usually you need to chant the spell first, but I guess you're a rare case," he chuckled. "But we call these abilities 'Kido."

Zezuri began to blush as her new teacher tried to guide her through an easy Kido spell. She came back to her senses when Ashido abruptly asked her if she was alright.

"You look like you have a fever. Is this too much?" he asked worried her powers would go out of control.

"N-no I'm fine! We should continue!" she ordered.

Ashido brushed off her suspicious behavior as he continued to teach her Kido. They spent hours before Zezuri finally managed to spew fire from her palms and blasted it at a tree.

"I-I did it!" Zezuri said exhausted.

"It was very powerful. And your healing abilities are also strong," Ashido smiled as he helped wipe sweat from her brow, dabbing it with a large black sleeve, "You could take out any low class hollow with ease by now."

Suddenly their happiness was shattered by an unexpected presence.

"Hmph... you were such a nuisance to find in these damn woods," a familiar voice said from the darkness of the woods before revealing itself to be the blue haired Espada, Grimmjow.

"You hid your spiritual pressure from us..." Ashido growled, only now realizing the high level of power the arrancar held.

Zezuri watched the two men glare each other down, sensing the inevitable battle ahead.

"Hand over the woman. Don't think I'll leave you here alive either, Soul Reaper," Grimmjow spoke again, eyes still fixed on Ashido, and his hands in his pockets.

"I won't let monsters like you hurt this innocent girl any longer," Ashido retorted, grasping the hilt of his sword.

"Heh I like your idea. A good fight is just what I need right now. Don't disappoint," scoffing Grimmjow also prepared for battle.

"Please don't do this!" Zezuri pleaded, looking back and forth between the two.

But no more words were said as Ashido pushed Zezuri out of the way as Grimmjow began to charge with his fists. Ashido flash stepped out of Grimmjow's radius, but the espada quickly followed suit, throwing rapid and powerful punches in his direction. The Shinigami barely dodged the blows but swiftly blocked a final combo with his sword. Grimmjow acted hastily as his fist came into contact with Ashido's weapon, and wrapped his hand around it, effortlessly ripping it out of the Shinigami's hands.

Before Ashido could blink, Grimmjow kicked him in the face with powerful force, sending him to fly backwards into a large tree.

"Gee and I thought I would get better action out here. Looks like I was wrong. Now, Get up and fight me!" Grimmjow shouted as Ashido tried to recover from his fall.

Grimmjow kept his stride over to the wounded man, eyes filled with intent to destroy. "I didn't even need Panthera for this. What a waste of time," he hissed.

"I'm sorry... Zezuri..." Ashido said, looking up at his future murderer.

Grimmjow grabbed Ashido by his neck, his other hand readying a cero blast. But suddenly the distraught girl rushed over and grasped Grimmjow's arm.

"Please! Stop!" Zezuri tried to change his mind. But it was useless as Grimmjow shook her off of him.

"Get off! You can keep watching while I slaughter this bastard!" he laughed.

But Zezuri would not stop trying to save her friend. She glared at Grimmjow and before he could finish off Ashido, she fired a blast of energy that blew Grimmjow away. Ashido fell from his grasp and found his sword as Grimmjow tried to regain control of the situation. Zezuri's attack wasn't enough to injure him, but it certainly threw him off balance and bought Ashido time.

Grimmjow's patience was all gone as his temper rose.

Ashido wanted to kill the espada as he readied his sword. "Please, stay back," he ordered Zezuri.

She wanted to help anyway she could, but she knew she would only get in the way.

Grimmjow rushed with full force this time, ready to kill, but Ashido dodged him again, this time managing to strike the espada through the shoulder. But Grimmjow barely took notice to the wound as he quickly turned and slammed his fist into Ashido's stomach, then grabbing him by the arm and flinging him into the air. The fighting did not stop as Grimmjow pursued his prey like a hawk, following with another powerful kick that slammed Ashido into the ground.

Zezuri waited for the dust to clear as she saw Ashido hanging onto life, motionless on the floor of the forest. She wanted to go to him but Grimmjow got in front of her, certain the Shinigami would die at any minute.

"Get out of my way!" she demanded but the Espada grabbed her by her collar, lifting her eyes to his level.

"Now you listen to me! I'm not taking you back to Aizen, but you're gonna do what I tell you to or I'll hurt you anyway I can without killing you!" and with that final threat he set her down.

Zezuri's eyes flowed with tears as she stared at the ground, refusing to move.

"Get moving or I'll make you watch me rip him apart," but Zezuri still did not move. "Hey, are you outta your mind!" he shook her by her shoulder.

"Leave me alone!" the girl finally screamed, slapping Grimmjow in the face.

The espada could do nothing but remain stunned as Zezuri rushed past him, over to Ashido.

"I can still save him!" she thought in a panic. She placed her hands on his bloodied chest and began to heal him quickly.

Grimmjow came to his senses and gave Zezuri enough time to only heal the Shinigami's wounds. She looked down at the unconscious Ashido, brushing some his hair from his face with her fingers. Her eyes gazed at him with a quiet and sorrowful goodbye as she heard Grimmjow's footsteps come closer.

"I'll overlook killing him if you come quietly this time..." he said, lifting her to her feet.

Zezuri brushed his grip off coldly and walked past him, Grimmjow knowing she would be stubborn the whole trip.

"Once again you have no idea where yer goin'," he said catching up to her.

"It doesn't make a difference if you have a human form, you're still the same lowlife monster," Zezuri spat, wanting to hurt him.

Although it shouldn't have upset him, the last comment still slightly annoyed him as she was aiming right for his pride and not his humanity.

* * *

The vast sea of stars twinkled gently as a pre-dawn sky glowed a soothing purple color as Airi awoke in her dream world again. She sat up before realizing that she was able to move this time. The small smooth stones shifted beneath her as she got to her feet.

"Good morning," the black-haired girl spoke. She was still sitting with her back to Airi.

"Uh... good morning?" replied Airi, staring at the girl. She seemed familiar, but at the same time, a complete stranger, "Who are you?"

The girl stood and whirled towards the blonde, "You... don't know who I am?" Her eyes began to water.

"Well, er... you seem familiar... and I'm not too good with remembering names," Airi felt terrible. Who was this girl she could not remember?

Tears streamed down the girl's face.

"I'm sorry! Could you remind me?"

"Remind you? How could you forget?" shouted the black-haired girl, visibly upset. She held out her left arm as her hand started to glow.

Airi backed up cautiously, not liking the feeling she was getting. The light in the other girl's hand grew brighter and larger. With a burst it solidified into a sword. "Wait a moment," thought Airi, "that looks like-"

She was unable to finish the thought as the girl rushed at her with the sword.

"H-hey! Why are you attacking me?" Airi dodged out of the way, she had no desire to fight this girl.

The girl's lips moved, but the words were lost as the wind suddenly swelled up to a gale. Knowing what was to come, a panicked look crossed Airi's face, but the other girl suddenly grinned. A huge wave rose up behind her and all went black as the starry sea overtook the island once more.

* * *

Szayel was cleaning out a syringe after injecting the lifeless hollow with more tonic. He'd finished checking his calculations three times over before he had begun this part. There was no room for failure here; after all, this was one of the few times that Aizen-sama had actually asked him for something on this scale. Usually, the Eighth Espada was only in charge of monitoring Karakura town or Soul Society. Speaking of which, he should probably check on that.

Setting down the syringe, he rushed over to a monitor, pressed a few buttons and stared at the screen. "That can't be right," he muttered looking at a pulsing dot on a map. He shut the machine off and turned it back on. The dot remained on the map. "Well then, I guess I'll have to report on that right away," snapping his fingers, he summoned a fraccion and handed it a piece of paper bearing a quick summary of what the machine had said.

* * *

Aizen was in his throne room when the messenger found him. It handed him the paper, bowed, and exited. The commander's eyes widened slightly as he read Szayel's report. "What are you up to Urahara?" he mused, "Whatever it is, you've just lost."

* * *

_So, what did ya think? We'd love to hear from you!_


	8. A Hasty Plan

_Almost forgot to update this week! Sorry, my computer's been acting up, but, without further ado, here's chapter 8. -Airumel_

* * *

**-Chapter 8-**

Grimmjow and Zezuri managed to clear out of the Menos Forest in a few hours. Zezuri looked back occasionally, but Ashido was not following them, which was for the best. They were beginning to cross the dunes when Grimmjow's wound from Ashido took a turn for the worse.

"Damn..." he grunted, his shoulder oozing blood. Ashido's blade had stabbed him all the way through.

Zezuri realized the Espada's pain, although she would rather leave him there to die, she couldn't stand him to suffer. She wasn't the kind of person to leave someone wounded, so she decided to help him out. After all, without him she would die out here as well.

"Let me see, this might sting a little," she said offering to heal him.

"I don't need any damn help," Grimmjow growled.

"So you'd rather just die out here?" Zezuri folded her arms.

Grimmjow knew she had a point, he just hated needing help from his captive. He looked at her annoyed, which she took as an agreement and began to heal him. As soon as it ended, she began to get light headed.

"Hey what's the matter?" Grimmjow asked as the girl held her head in pain.

"N-nothing... I just..." before she could finish her sentence, she fell into the sand.

The Espada sighed and rolled his eyes as he lifted the fainted girl, and placed her over his shoulder. He hoped he didn't have to do this the entire way.

* * *

Airi sputtered and coughed as the wave receded. It was alarming how much more realistic this dream of hers was getting.

A sword clattered on the stones by her head.

The black-haired girl dropped to her knees and began to sob again.

Quickly, Airi grabbed the sword and stared at it. It was identical to the one she had summoned earlier. She looked from the sword's pulsing blue-green surface to the crying girl.

More sobbing came from the girl, but she didn't look up.

"Are you... the one who was calling me?" Airi asked hesitantly, remembering the thundering voice that she'd heard in prior dreams.

The girl stopped crying, "In a way," she looked at Airi hopefully, "We called you to warn you of this."

"We?" asked Airi, "Warn me?"

The girl nodded, "We are the spirit of the sword you hold and your desire for power."

Okay, thought Airi, this was getting somewhere now, as she hoped that the girl before her wouldn't suddenly turn violent again. The sea of stars around them seemed calm for the moment. "What was the warning?"

"It is too late."

"What?"

"Your humanity has been lost."

"I don't understand."

"Can you not feel it? The emptiness, the sorrow, the agony?"

The waves began to increase in size.

Airi trembled and gripped the sword tighter, "Yeah, my life has been rather dismal lately."

"No. Look deeper. Your soul has been altered."

So much for getting somewhere.

A terrified look crossed the girl's face, "It's coming!"

"What is?"

The smile crept across the girl's face, "More power."

Another wave crashed down on the island.

* * *

Zezuri's eyes fluttered open and then grew wide as she found herself on the espada's shoulder. But it was not being carried that caused a problem, it was the fact that they were crossing a field filled with hollow bones and corpses. Grimmjow decided to adjust his shoulder, and shifted the girl around roughly, placing his hands on her buttocks.

"Shame on you!" she squeaked.

"What the hell!" he exclaimed, not realizing she was awake. He then proceeded to drop her on the ground.

"You think you can take advantage of me, you bully!" Zezuri shouted.

"Shut up! I don't know what yer talkin' about!" he yelled back, wishing she would of stayed asleep. "Get up, we're almost there," he turned away and continued to walk.

Zezuri slowly rose and looked around the desolate place.

"W-where are we going?" she asked, getting creeped out as she caught up to him.

"You'll see. It's over this hill," he said.

"Why are you doing this?" she finally asked.

"I'll tell you when we get there," sighed Grimmjow, becoming annoyed again.

As they reached the peak of the hill, Zezuri became disappointed as it was just another cave.

"Another... cave? This was your big secret?" she groaned.

"Whatever, get movin'," he nudged her.

They entered the small cave which had decent lighting from the moon. Grimmjow sat, trying to relax but was surprised when the brunette sat next to him.

"So why did you kidnap me from Aizen? Who already kidnapped me... it's like a double kidnap!" she exclaimed.

"Don't get comfortable, I'm just using you against Aizen. I know what he wants from you so I decided to to get to you first and turn on him," while explaining he noticed he noticed her had upset the girl.

"You're just using me too? It's the only reason why I'm here, same with Airi. I hate all of you..." she began to sob.

"Whatever... crying won't change anything," he said rudely, "Besides there is a barrier around this place that weakens Shinigami powers."

"I don't feel anything..." Zezuri said, wiping her tears away.

"Except you. Aizen will come here for you and we will destroy him, then I'll be free."

"What about Airi and I? If I do this for you then you've got to take us home!" she tried to negotiate.

"Are you stupid? You can't go home, you're dead," Grimmjow said curtly.

"Oh yeah..." Zezuri had nearly forgotten about that, which the realization before made her powers erupt. "Then I don't know where would we go..."

The two sat in silence for a while before Grimmjow nodded off for a nap. Zezuri listened to him breathe quietly, making her drowsy as well. She thought he was strange for not staying awake to make sure she didn't try and run, but there was little point in trying anything anymore. She too began to drift into sleep, leaning against the cold stone wall of the cave.

* * *

The room was dark. The only sound that could be heard above the whirrs and hums from various machines was the light breathing of the pink-haired Espada as he slept with his head down on a desk.

"STAAAARRKKK!" Lilynette called peering into the room.

The Eighth Espada didn't awaken.

"Guess he's not in here," muttered the fraccion, gloomily. "Huh, what's that?" she strolled in casually, not paying attention to the sleeping Espada.

The lifeless form of Airi lay strapped to a table; no one had even done her the courtesy of wiping up the blood from the many minor cuts she'd gained while fighting earlier.

Lilynette looked her over with a concerned expression on her face.

Szayel stirred suddenly.

In a flash the First Espada's fraccion was gone.

"Hello?" called Szayel, he could have sworn someone was there. When he didn't get a reply, he looked over at his experiment. Nothing seemed out of place, so he put his worries out of his mind.

* * *

Ulquiorra flashed over miles of white sands urgently. Though his face betrayed no emotion other than the usual indifference, he was not happy about his current mission.

Upon listening to Gin's depiction of Grimmjow's departure, Aizen had dispatched the Fourth Espada to retrieve the human girl and deal with the rouge Espada. It was clear to all that this was an act of rebellion, but such acts were normal in Hueco Mundo.

In a matter of minutes after leaving Las Noches, the green-eyed Espada came to a stop. "Grimmjow," he spoke in his monotone.

The sixth espada jumped up from where he was seated and whirled around. He hadn't sensed Ulquiorra coming and the fact that he'd just appeared behind him like that unnerved him even more.

"You must return the girl to Las Noches. Aizen-sama is very displeased; I am here to retrieve the girl and depending on your choice, destroy you or retrieve you as well."

Grimmjow wasn't one to give up without a fight, but with his plans backfiring he had no moves left. Zezuri had also woken up from the commotion and was surprised to see the man that had thrown her out personally, had come to return her to Las Noches. "That bastard..." Grimmjow growled trying to think of an opening of attack. But Ulquiorra was already aware of his thoughts as he decided to remind the 6th espada of his place.

"Shall I have to reprimand you with force? Or shall I annihilate you here and now?" the dark man said, appearing right in front of Grimmjow demonstrating his power.

Grimmjow abruptly fell to one knee. Somehow Ulquiorra had caused internal damage to the blue haired espada with a move that Zezuri could not even see. "Stop! I'll go with you; I'll do whatever you want!" Zezuri did not want to see another gruesome battle occur.

"I don't understand, you should want this trash dead..." Ulquiorra gazed at the brunette, his face still blank and expressionless, despite the curiosity behind his voice.

"I'm not like you," she retorted, helping Grimmjow to his feet.

Ulquiorra didn't respond but began to lead the way out of the cave, towards Las Noches.

* * *

They returned to the large entrance, the very entrance Zezuri had hoped she would never see again. She was still letting Grimmjow lean on her since Ulquiorra never gave them a chance to stop and rest, but the 6th espada was getting quite heavy.

Ulquiorra brought them back to the hall where Aizen held his meetings, and low and behold, the evil man himself was there waiting.

"I'm glad you were able to return to us safely," Aizen spoke softly. "Please have a seat, I'm sure the 'extra' weight you are caring has made you tired," he referenced to Grimmjow.

Zezuri helped Grimmjow to a chair as she seated herself as well, "Where is Airi?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"She... She is with Szayel at the moment. Do not worry, she will be alright in due time. Of course much has changed since you've last seen her."

Zezuri became very worried. What did he mean by change? "What do you want me for? Why did you throw me out?" she asked, with dozens of other questions reeling in her mind.

"It should be clear that we threw you out because there was nothing more we could do to help you. But that Shinigami was also of great use, do not worry though, we will not go after him. I am surprised he has survived in the Menos Forest that long. I'm sure the hollows will eventually do their job of eradicating him."

Zezuri stood up in a rage, "You monster!" but Grimmjow quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her from attacking Aizen. "Don't be an idiot..." he whispered, looking at the 4th Espada who was standing by the doors.

Zezuri turned and looked at the espada and then calmed down, coming to her senses.

"You must be tired. You may go bathe and rest now. Your friend should be back in you soon. Unless something happens of course," Aizen waved his hand as Ulquiorra opened the doors.

Grimmjow and Zezuri returned to the room she used to sleep in, and as Aizen said, Airi was not there. The wounded espada slumped to the ground again in pain. Zezuri turned and went to him, she didn't think she would have to heal him twice.

"I look so damn weak..." he sighed as Zezuri placed her hands on his muscular chest, her hands glowing with power. She didn't know how to respond even though she know what being weak was like all the time. "I can't believe I was such a fool. I should've known he would send that ghastly bastard instead of showing up himself," he continued to remorse.

"To think if I wasn't here, you could be dead," she said as she finished healing, "It's like I'm your babysitter now," she quickly stopped chuckling when she noticed Grimmjow did not find her very funny.

He growled and turned his back, he needed time to recover from his failed plans. His pride was crushed, ego bruised and he still couldn't figure out why he cared so much for the human girl who currently stared at his back.

Zezuri at that moment was trying to puzzle out her own emotions. Why did this blue haired man want revenge at his leader, and was that his only intention when he kidnapped her? And what about Airi? Where was she? Her thoughts drifted as her eyelids shut. The brunette slumped forward onto Grimmjow's back.

"Hey! Watch it!" he scowled over his shoulder, but when Zezuri made no response, his expression changed. "What am I going to do with you?" he sighed, lifting the sleeping girl up and placing her on a bed. He looked at her for a moment, shook his head, and returned to his seat in the doorway.

* * *

_Rather short chapter, my apologies... but do you all like them shorter? Or do you like the super-long chapters? Also, any general questions/comments/reviews? Thanks for reading! -Airumel  
_


	9. The First Mission

_Just so that no one gets upset for the short chapter I just posted... you're getting this quicker than I intended. -Airumel  
_

* * *

**-Chapter 9-**

Szayel had long lost track of time as he feverishly worked on his experiment. Everything had started off so well, but now, the girl wasn't responding to even the highest concentrations of serum he could make. Though her form was stable, the machines that monitored her power levels and vitals all suggested otherwise. For the last three or so hours, everything had been in a steady state of decline. The Eighth Espada feared he was failing.

* * *

Airi was still on the stony island in the sea of stars. The water around churned violently and the wind threatened to push her into the angry sea.

"Eeek!" A sudden gale succeeded in pushing the black-haired girl off balance.

The blonde dashed over and grabbed the arm of the other girl trying to stop her from falling into a wave that had suddenly swelled up behind her. Airi was thrown off balance as another wave buffed her from the side. Both girls were tossed in the sea.

Help! Thought Airi frantically. Someone! Anyone!

* * *

Someone entered the room causing the machines to swell in their various noises. The girl's vital signs suddenly returned to stable and her power stopped falling.

"Can I help you?" Szayel asked the newcomer, not looking up from a monitor as he scrambled to collect data.

"Stand back," the command was issued with force.

Szayel stepped back, "Hey! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

A green blast shot from the Fourth Espada's outstretched hand and streamed towards the mask on the girl's face.

It wasn't a direct hit, but the mask cracked and shattered into a fine powder before vanishing. All that remained were a few feather-like fragments on the right side of her head and a blue-green wing-shaped mark along the left side of her face where the mask had been.

Szayel stood stunned. He hadn't factored in the application of power as a possible hypothesis. Yet here was the evidence. A complete transformation of hollow to arrancar en vitro. "I uh, well..." he sputtered.

Ulquiorra ignored the Eighth Espada and walked over to the girl. She was now sleeping peacefully. Wordlessly, he lifted her from the table and swept out of the room.

The pink-haired Espada scratched his head, scribbled some notes in his journal and headed for Aizen's domain to report.

* * *

Ulquiorra arrived with the sleeping Airi to find Zezuri also asleep in her bed and Grimmjow snoozing in the doorway. The 6th Espada quickly awoke to his comrades presence. As he stood to let Ulquiorra through, he noticed and was very shocked to see, the change Aizen had mentioned earlier.

"How is that even possible...?" Grimmjow said, slightly disturbed.

"When they awaken, they will start off with training first thing," the other Espada said avoiding the question and leaving, silent as the night.

* * *

A few hours later Zezuri stirred awake and noticed Airi safe in the bed next to her. She leapt up with excitement and rushed over to her friend's bedside. But as she went to shake her friend awake, she became horrified by what she saw.

"W-what?" she exclaimed upon looking closer. It was not the blonde's tattered appearance that shocked her.

Grimmjow remained quiet in the doorway, but watched with interest.

Airi had woken from Zezuri's shout and smiled but was confused as to why the brunette wore a disturbed expression.

"What's the matter?" she asked, but Zezuri just pointed at the feather shaped mask fragments that were stuck in Airi's hair.

Airi began to comb her hand through her long blonde hair, first on the left and then on the right side of her head. A panic-stricken look crossed her face as her hand made contact with something hard. "N-no way..." she said, her voice shaking. She attempted to pull the fragments, but realized they were stuck fast, "Don't tell me I also have..."

"R-right in the middle of your chest..." Zezuri finished for her.

Airi moved her shaking hand to her chest. When it met nothing, she looked down and gasped in horror. She too had hole, just like the Espadas and Arrancars. How had this happened? She began to tremble, the last thing she remembered was being in so much pain as white material gushed from her face. Was that how hollows were made? Looking back at Zezuri she was at a loss of what to say, "Well... I guess... I can't go home anymore..." the realization dawned on her.

Zezuri sat down on the bed next to Airi, "I can't either," she looked down at her hands folded in her lap.

"What?"

"While I was gone, I met a Shinigami," she choked back the tears that threatened to burst forth, "He called me a spirit... as in... dead..."

Airi's green eyes widened; she'd been dead the whole time? She felt nothing as all hope drained away in a single moment.

Neither girl spoke, but the silence was ended by the arrival of the green-eyed Espada, "Aizen-sama wishes to see you three."

* * *

"Do not think your rebellion will be overlooked, Grimmjow," spoke Aizen.

Airi, Zezuri, Grimmjow, and Ulquiorra all stood before the commander's throne. The brown haired man had gotten straight to the point and not even mentioned Airi's condition.

"However, if you wish to prove your loyalty, I have a request for you to undertake," Aizen continued.

Grimmjow winced, hopefully this wasn't going to be as dull as his last assignment.

"I need you to retrieve some items of high spiritual power from the living dimension. They will be small, and I am certain that the Sereitei is also aware of these and most-likely monitoring the area. You are to take your fraccion team and retrieve it. Understood?"

"Yes, Aizen-sama," Grimmjow looked the leader in the eyes as a grin broke out on his face, this quest was much more suited to his abilities.

"Zezuri, you will stay here and train with Gin. I understand your kido abilities have rapidly developed."

She nodded, fearful that she would end up like Airi.

"You are all dismissed."

The four bowed and exited the room.

"Airi," spoke Ulquiorra, "Go with Grimmjow's group, you will learn more from real experiences than around here."

Wordlessly, she nodded and made to follow the blue-haired Espada on his way to grab his fraccion.

* * *

Gin began to lead Zezuri down the halls to the training room Airi had been in before. Zezuri could only think of her friend's safety at the moment. She would have to tell her all about it when she returned, after all it seemed as if an eternity since she had seen their world.

The training room was covered in marks from weapons and hollows that had battled and died here previously.

"Now..." Gin began "Here are some simple targets for you to play with. Just demonstrate the extent of your abilities for now." he finished as several stone slabs in shapes as human figures, rose from the ground.

Zezuri shifted into position as Ashido had taught her. "Ashido...," she said quietly, her thoughts turning to him. "Please give me strength..."

With a deep sigh she continued to manifest her energy into a single shot that cleared a row of targets in seconds. Gin watched with amusement as she proceed to take out her respective marks.

* * *

A tear in the air opened into a black portal as Grimmjow stepped back to allow his fraccion through.

Airi stared in wonder; wasn't this the same way she'd been transported here? He could have summoned one the whole time? Hold up, Airi thought, it's not like he would have opened one for you and Zezuri even if you'd asked nicely. Then a grim thought crossed her mind as she realized at some point they'd died.

"C'mon!" Grimmjow growled impatiently waiting on Airi, "I'll leave you behind if you slow us down!" he strode off into the blackness of the portal, the girl following close behind.

When the darkness receded, Airi gasped in wonder. A cityscape twinkled below her. Then she realized what that meant, "I'm standing? In thin air? How is that possible?"

Grimmjow grunted in frustration. Perhaps this was why Ulquiorra had suggested she go with him; the Fourth Espada wouldn't have the patience for this. Then again, he wasn't sure who would.

"Does this mean gravity doesn't affect us?" she asked one of the fraccion.

Grimmjow sighed, this was going to be a long night... At least she wasn't leaking spiritual pressure. "Okay, listen up!" he jumped into his commanding role, "We're all going to split up and look for a small object that emits really strong spiritual energy. It should be hidden, but not guarded."

His fraccion team nodded.

"Keep your presence hidden and move fast, unless you encounter a Shinigami, and in which case, go ahead and kill them!"

The group flashed off in different directions leaving Airi, wondering how she could move that fast, behind. She was beginning to get frustrated with the lack of information when she felt something tug at the corner of her mind. Curious, she sped off without much thought in the direction of that which beckoned her.

* * *

Urahara sat on the roof of his shop, seemingly enjoying the night breeze. He'd seen Grimmjow and his gang arrive and split up to find what he had hidden. Something bothered him about the one arrancar that had been a little slow. He was too far away to be sure, but he felt like she was familiar. "Oh well," he sighed to himself, the arrival of the arrancar informed him that his plan was indeed working.

* * *

Airi landed in a dark alleyway. An old street lamp hummed with electricity, but the lightbulb inside was broken. It would have been completely unremarkable, save for the odd sensation she was getting from it. It felt... familiar somehow. Carefully, she lifted the lid off of the light and reached inside careful to avoid touching anything. She wasn't about to find out if being electrocuted still hurt. Her hand suddenly brushed something smooth that sent vibrations up her arm. That had to be it! Airi grabbed the shard and pulled it out.

The shard glistened in the faint light of the nearest street lamp.

Suddenly, she felt someone watching her. Whirling around, she saw no one, "Uh... Grimmjow?"

"What?" the voice came suddenly from above, not where she thought someone had been watching from.

Airi held up the shard, pushing the thoughts of someone watching out of her mind, "I found it."

Grimmjow nodded, taking the shard from the blonde girl. Suddenly, the rest of the group appeared. Wordlessly, the Sixth Espada opened the portal back to Las Noches.

* * *

"That is bizzare," remarked a strange looking man watching a monitor over the shoulders of a few men dressed in black. "Arrancar, in Karakura? And not attacking humans or even Kurosaki?" He straightened up and adjusted his long white overcoat before turning to the young woman standing beside him, "Nemu!" he shouted at her.

"Yes, Mayuri-sama?"

"Stay here and make sure no one slacks off! I must go report this to the First Division! I expect a full report upon my return!"

* * *

Zezuri stood, exhausted, finished with destroying targets, which really only took a couple minutes, but new ones had kept appearing after she had wiped all of them out.

"That's enough for now," said Gin, "You may return to your room."

She had been around long enough, that she knew her way back, but the white halls were very creepy at this time of day. She nodded and left the training room and Gin behind.

Walking past the meeting hall, she noticed Grimmjow and Airi had returned. She smiled with relief that they were okay, and rushed up to them. Airi chuckled as she watched her friend almost trip as she came toward them.

"I'm glad you're alright..." Zezuri said. "What did you find?" she asked.

"This..." Grimmjow showed her. It was a bright piece of what looked like crystal.

Zezuri felt some sort of resonation with the crystal, but thought nothing of it as Grimmjow put it back into his pocket. "I gotta report back," he said, and left the two girls behind.

"So, uh... what are they teaching you?" asked Airi, slightly worried that Zezuri would meet her same fate. Even though neither had any hope of going home, the blonde wished she could at least have remained human.

"Just kido, magic," she clarified at Airi's confused look, "How is being... well, you know?"

Airi flinched, but quickly covered up her discomfort of the topic with a smile, "I'm fine. It's... different. I feel empowered, yet at the same time, even more trapped and helpless," subconsciously she covered the gaping hole in her chest with her hand, "Magic, huh? Like what can you do?" she suddenly changed the topic.

Zezuri caught the hint that Airi didn't really want to talk about her condition, "Here! Let me show you!" despite being dead-tired from practicing for hours, the brunette produced a small fireball but held onto it and diminished it slowly.

"Wow! That's so cool!" exclaimed her friend, "How did you figure out you could do that?"

The other girl shrugged, "I just did... when I was thrown out. It sort of just came to me."

"An arrancar in awe of mere shinigami parlor tricks? Pathetic," a voice dripping with irritation came from down the hall. Ulquiorra emerged from the shadows, "tomorrow, meet me in my domain, I'll teach you how a real arrancar fights," His green eyes met with Airi's who glared back, she still hadn't forgiven him for knocking her out.

Watching the back of the Fourth Espada as he swept down the hallway, Zezuri remarked, "He's certainly taken an interest in you lately."

Airi grimaced, "Do you think it's because of this?" she touched the mask fragments in her hair.

Zezuri thought about it, "I don't know."

* * *

The next morning, Airi awoke before Zezuri and crept silently for the doorway, trying not to wake up Zezuri who was resting peacefully.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Luppi, sneering.

"Ulquiorra told me I was to train with him today," Airi replied staring intently out the door.

The guard gave her a quizzical look, but then relaxed as a look of amusement crossed his face, "Okay, you can go."

The blonde proceeded out the door and moved with an unknown urgency. She wasn't sure why she was so eager to see the man she despised so much.

* * *

Zezuri continued to sit in silence after Airi had left the room, and wondered how long she would remain alone for. She was also uncomfortable with Luppi as the guard, no matter how much he ignored her.

"U-uhm I just remembered, Gin asked me to train again today..." she tried to persuade the peeved arrancar, "I-I should be on my way."

"Huh? You guys can go where you please by yourself now? Why am I even here!" he threw his hands up in frustration, "Do whatever you want," he said leaving his post.

Zezuri wasn't attempting to escape, she just wanted time to herself, but not sitting in the room all over again.

"I wonder what life will be like for Airi and I now that we are dead... Does this mean we stay immortal like this forever?" a dreamy expression came across her face as she hoped she would never have to age, "Although... I wish I looked a little more womanly before I died..." she said, this idea becoming her downside."I wish Airi wasn't so upset... It feels like there is nothing I can do to cheer her up... I could never do anything to save her in the first place..."

Her thoughts were interrupted by two passing arrancar who looked at her with confusion.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" the one on the left asked.

"Aizen's little pet I believe," the other cackled.

Zezuri could sense the unfriendliness in their voices and backed away.

"Where do you think you are going? We just wanna have some fun," the one on the right, with pointy fragments on the right side of his head, grabbed Zezuri's arm.

"P-please... let me go. I don't want any trouble," she pleaded, pulling away.

"You think you can tell us what to do?" the one on the left, with half a mask, covering his left eye became angry.

"N-no..." she continued to struggle as the two male arrancar closed in on her.

"We will make sure we don't leave anything for you to go telling on us about," the one with mask over his eye gave Zezuri a sudden blow to the gut.

Zezuri fell to her knees in pain, but before she could do anything else, they lifted her up by her hair.

"You think you're somthin' special just because you have Shinigami powers? Well I'd love nothing more than to teach you a lesson on how we deal with Shinigami," the one with the mask put both of his hands around her neck and began to squeeze.

"H-hey we aren't supposed to kill her, lighten up!" the one with pointy shards noticed his buddy was losing control.

The girl struggled to breath as his grip tightened, but suddenly the arrancar grabbing her neck was blown away by a red cero blast. Zezuri fell to the ground again and almost lost consciousness.

"I don't know what the hell you think yer doin', but it ain't gonna happen on my watch!" a familiar gruff voice said.

The arrancar with pointed fragments back away in fear before running off, his comrade on the other hand disintegrated from the blast.

The owner of the voice, Grimmjow, lifted Zezuri to her feet.

She felt better now that she had air in her lungs again, "T-thanks, I thought they were going to kill me..." she said with relief.

"It would be best if you stayed out of my way from now on as well. I also don't like the presence of more Shinigami in my domain," he said coldly, turning his back to her.

Zezuri was taken aback by his words. It wasn't like she'd thought of him as a friend, but the remark felt like true betrayal. Yet, he was right; as arrancar, they should hate her with her shinigami-like powers. Would Airi ever see her that way?

* * *

Airi had arrived in Ulquiorra's domain on time without getting lost despite not even having directions on how to get there. She wondered about it briefly, but figured she'd been around Las Noches long enough to guess at where everything was. Maybe her navigational skills had improved enough, back home she'd gotten lost within a mile of her house before. Her thoughts turned towards her family she'd never see again and suddenly sadness overtook her. Sinking to her knees, she sat, trying to think about anything else. At least dying obviously hadn't been as bad as she'd feared, but everything she'd left behind, all the things she hadn't accomplished... Tears welled up in her eyes, no, she wouldn't let her sadness consume her. Even if she wasn't able to go back, she still had to find a way out of here! Yet at the same time, she felt bound to Las Noches by an invisible force. Well, she decided, I'll at least get Zezuri out before they turn her into a hollow too.

At last, her thoughts calmed and the blonde picked herself up and entered further into the Fourth Espada's domain, following a strange sense that she knew his exact location.

Ulquiorra was awaiting the new arrancar in the middle of a large round room. Devoid of furniture, every step she took seemed to reverberate around the room.

The Espada nodded as their eyes met for a brief moment. He looked unsurprised to see her. Just mildly satisfied, "Now I will teach you why arrancars need not be in awe of mere shinigami," a green light formed in his hand and a beam shot out near Airi's head. She winced as the beam passed her harmlessly.

"That was a cero," he began, "the most basic of our attacks."

* * *

Grimmjow lead Zezuri back to her room, as she followed silently behind. He knew that he had hurt her feelings, he also knew that the bonds of trust that were forming between them would ruin them both. She was on her way to being a Shinigami, and it would go against all of his instincts to trust a girl like her. If Aizen saw this he would use it against them, but he couldn't help but feel a sort of pain as he tried to push the girl away from his mind. He thought to himself, perhaps it was already too late?

The two were stopped suddenly in their tracks as Aizen appeared from the shadows. "Goodness, you two are very quiet this evening," he said playfully.

"I was taking her back to her room," Grimmjow said in a humdrum tone.

"Well since I have you here, there is another job for you to do Grimmjow, the same as the first. Airi is busy at the moment, so it will be you and your fraccion," Aizen turned to leave again "But do a better job of keeping yourselves hidden. The Shinigami have already noticed our presence in Karakura town."

"You can make it to your room from here," the Espada would not look at the girl directly and followed Aizen into the shadows.

Zezuri felt like an odd duck more than anything, she was the one disliked now for what she was, but these were the only people she knew. She returned to her room and flopped down on the bed, gazing at the ceiling in a gloomy mood.

* * *

A few hours crept by sluggishly before Airi returned. She gave Zezuri a faint smile which faded as she threw herself comically onto her bed. Her thoughts flashed through her lesson with Ulquiorra; he'd been quite pleased with her abilities; apparently, she was faster than the average arrancar, but lacked strength. Of course, she still couldn't hold a candle to the Fourth's power. That much had been very clear. Oddly though, Airi felt a sense of pride that the pale Espada had decided to teach her. But, why was that? the blonde wondered, shouldn't she still be mad at him for knocking her out?

"Airi...?" Zezuri asked after a few moments.

The blonde looked up at her friend, "What's up?" she attempted to sound cheerful.

"Do you hate me?"

"Whaaa? Of course I don't!" Airi was shocked by her friend's question, "Where'd that come from?"

Zezuri felt relieved, but still hurt about Grimmjow's remark, "Grimmjow told me earlier that he doesn't like Shinigami, and well... you're an arrancar... and Shinigami oppose them..."

Airi sighed, "Zezuri, just because I wound up this way doesn't make me see you any different. You're my best friend. So stop worrying, silly."

* * *

_He knows! Luppi knows all! Mwahahahaaaaaaaa... Excuse me while I gloat with all the plot setups I added to this chapter... In the meantime, why don't you let us know what you think thus far? Many thanks for reading! See you next time! :D -Airumel  
_


	10. First Encounter

_Here's your weekly installment! And if you've been waiting for those men in black to show up, your patience will be shortly rewarded. -Airumel_

* * *

**-Chapter 10-**

The next morning, Airi and Zezuri were summoned to the throne room. As Ulquiorra opened the door for the two girls, they noticed that Grimmjow and his fraccion were all assembled as well.

"Ah, Ulquiorra, Airi and Zezuri, glad you could join us," Aizen greeted them from across the room.

Zezuri looked at Grimmjow, trying not to show she was still hurt from his comments the day before. However, the Sixth Espada was too busy staring at the floor to notice.

"I would like it if our guests joined you for your mission today," the commander addressed Grimmjow, "Since Airi was able to find the shard last time, I would imagine she would be a useful addition. I also have reason to believe that Zezuri would be able to detect the shard better than the rest of us as I have been informed she has a knack for sensing spiritual energy," he nodded at the two girls.

"So the Bloodhound Shinigami joins our team today," one of Grimmjow's fraccion remarked.

Zezuri brushed it off but knew her presence here would only bring more bullying, she would have to grow accustomed to it.

"Listen up, if you don't cooperate I can remove you indefinitely and replace you when ever the hell I want!" Grimmjow ordered his fraccion, "Now let's move out!"

As they headed for the opening Zezuri remembered that Aizen sent Grimmjow out last night, but they must of been unsuccessful, that is why she and Airi got to 'tag along' today. Zezuri was very uneasy about stepping through the portal, as she had been unconscious the first time. Swallowing her fear, she stepped in after Airi and found herself in the sky.

"W-whoa!" Zezuri wobbled around trying to keep balance, but began to fall instead.

Before she could fall any further, both Airi and Grimmjow caught her by separate arms and lifted her up.

"The trick is not to think about it," Airi tried to reassure her friend, "Just let us know if you sense something and let us do the dirty work," she said smiling.

Dirty work? wondered her friend, that sounded rather uncharacteristically ruthless of her friend. Yet, Zezuri relaxed and then turned to the Espada still holding her arm. He suddenly noticed himself and quickly let go.

"J-just let her stay on the ground for now," he said abruptly, looking away.

Airi brought Zezuri to the ground gently, as Zezuri already began to feel something.

"I think I sense the shard... but there is something else. I don't know what it is..." whatever it was, it was the same kind of energy she had felt around Ashido.

"Spread out!" Grimmjow was heard yelling above the girls before speeding off away from them.

"How about we stick together?" asked Airi. She didn't sense anything yet, but she trusted Zezuri's instincts, "Which direction?"

The brunette closed her eyes and focused for a moment, "The shard is this way," she pointed to the East.

As the two girls walked, a similar thought entered both of their minds.

Zezuri scanned the skies for Grimmjow and his gang. Seeing and sensing no one, she looked to her friend, "Wouldn't it be something if we could just ditch them and hide out here?"

Airi's green eyes grew wide for a moment at the suggestion of escape.

"Yeah, I know, we're dead, and you're... an arrancar... but there has to be somewhere else we can go!" Zezuri spoke with determination.

A sad expression crossed the blonde's face, "I don't think there's anywhere else for something like me..."

"But Ashido, that Shinigami, I met in the forest, he mentioned something about another place where he was from!"

"Well, for a Shinigami, Las Noches wouldn't be the best place... but for me... I should stay with what I am..."

Zezuri couldn't believe that Airi was giving up so easily. True, her friend had a valid point about being an arrancar, but there had to be somewhere better. Even though they'd made her one of them the residents of Las Noches still treated Airi as a prisoner. Why wouldn't she want to leave?

Just as she was about to say something, a sudden swell in spiritual pressure made her lose her train of thought, "Someone's coming!" she shouted to Airi.

The blonde placed her right hand over the hilt of her sword, ready to draw, "Grab the shard, I'll stop whatever this is!" she shouted and ran towards the presence.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a shadowy figure called down from where it had perched atop the roof of a one story home.

"I won't let you harm Zezuri!" shouted Airi.

"Comradery? Aren't you arrancar supposed to be bloodthirsty and out for your own gain?"

Whoever the figure was, they hadn't realized that Zezuri wasn't an arrancar, noted Airi.

"Anyways, I am supposed to be retrieving the same thing you are seeking. I suggest you get out of my way or I'll be glad to remove you from existence."

Airi stood fast in her tracks and glared up at the shadow.

"Is that a challenge?" the figure leapt off the roof and landed in front of her, "Very well, prepare to meet your end by the hand of Ikkaku Madarame!" The man was tall, bald and clad in in a black hakama.

Airi needed no explanation, this was a true Shinigami, one who hunted hollows professionally.

* * *

Zezuri ran off towards the shard. She'd felt the oncoming presence stop as it met with Airi's. The sounds of a battle were soon heard spurring Zezuri to run faster. She had to reach the shard before Airi got hurt or worse! She didn't doubt her friend's power, but there were more presences arriving every moment. One... two... three... she counted. All of varying levels.

The shard's presence was very strong by now, she had to be close. Looking around Zezuri saw a large dumpster behind a restaurant where the signal felt the strongest.

"Really?" she moaned opening the lid to the smelly trash receptacle. Looking around on the ground, she found a stick and began to poke through the bin full of... well, she'd rather not think about it.

Her stick struck something suddenly that sent a shockwave up her arm. Zezuri dropped her stick. She was sure she'd found the shard, but sensed that picking up the shard would be unwise.

Stepping back from the dumpster she tried to locate her nearest comrade. Airi was locked in battle, along with a few of Grimmjow's group. The Sixth Espada was her next best option. But how could she get his attention, "Grimmjow!" she yelled, with no better ideas.

A young light-hearted chuckle came from behind her, "You know, your buddy won't make it here in time."

Zezuri whirled around to see a young child wearing the same black garb that Ashido had worn. The girl looked to be about six years old and had bubble-gum pink hair. Noting the sword at her side, the brunette backed up cautiously.

"Kenny! I found something!" she shouted.

"Is that so?" a low voice almost growled as a huge man jumped down from the roof of a building nearby. He landed with a jingle of bells that adorned the tips of his spiky hair.

Zezuri wondered how she'd failed to sense these two. They stood before her not emitting even the slightest amount of pressure.

"Hmph, Yachiru, I think you need an eye exam, this girl isn't a threat to us," his one uncovered eye looked over the white-clad girl who stared in confusion.

"But Kenny! She's like us!"

The large man's eye narrowed, "Indeed. Yet she wears their uniform and seems to be in conjunction with Aizen's forces," he stepped forward and drew his sword.

Zezuri took another step back and bumped into the dumpster.

"I'll give you a choice, girl, step aside or I'll cut you down where you stand."

* * *

Airi was locked in battle with the bald man. Their powers seemed evenly matched, but the girl felt like the man was toying with her. As long as she could keep him away from Zezuri, she'd do her best to keep fighting.

Zezuri had no idea what to do, whoever this man was, last thing she wanted to do was anger him. She sunk to the ground, keeping her frightened stare on the tall shinigami. With his patience running out, the tip of his sword drew closer to her neck.

"I'll say this one more time, continue to be in my way and I will kill you." his deep voice echoing in her head.

Then, unexpectedly, a red blast that Zezuri had grown familiar with, was shot from the distance but the large shinigami and his pink haired companion dodged it flawlessly.

"Why didn't you grab the shard already?" Grimmjow asked crossley.

"W-well I thought it was a bad idea!" she said.

"What do you mean 'bad idea'? A bad idea is almost getting killed!" the Espada yelled.

"Well you should of showed up sooner!" the brunette shouted back.

"Umm, over here," the big shinigami man was feeling ignored.

"Geez, get back and let me handle this." Grimmjow said looking to the shinigami.

"Ahahaha this is more like it. An opponent I can actually fight!" he said with a large grin.

Spiritual pressure surged from both men as Grimmjow unsheathed his sword and charged at the shinigami, "I'll show you the power of an Espada!" he growled.

Zezuri watched, trembling as the two forces met with a resounding clang. Wild grins shone on both of the fighters' faces.

"Kenny's gonna win!" cheered the little girl.

Flashes of metal shone in the spare light from distant street lights.

Grimmjow drew first blood with a swift uppercut after dodging his opponent's sword. Yet, his foe's grin only increased.

"That's more like it!" his spiritual energy increased dramatically.

Grimmjow was not surprised in the least. He dodged backwards and blocked a rather heavy swing. Yet, he was slow on the next swing, as his opponent dodged it with ease, the Esapada received a light cut to his face.

The attacks reflected in the deep brown of Zezuri's eyes as she watched, horrified and mesmerized at the same her head, she came back to reality. The shard. She needed to get it, but what about that awful feeling she'd had earlier?

A female scream came from back the way she'd come. Airi was in trouble! Leaving all thoughts of the shard behind, Zezuri rushed for her friend, not realizing she was flash-stepping.

* * *

Airi grabbed her shoulder with her good arm and struggled to keep ahold of her sword. Blood poured at a concerning rate from her open wound.

After it appeared the battle wasn't going anywhere, the Shinigami had somehow transformed his sword into a spear. That hadn't been the problem though. Airi was used to battling Gin's retractable sword; the range on the ex-captain's weapon had been more extensive. When the blonde arrancar had scored a cut to Ikkaku's shiny head, the direction of battle had rapidly flown out of her favor. Suddenly, the Shinigami had fought with a new-found vigor that Airi could not return.

"Clearly, your all isn't into this battle," scoffed the Shinigami, "I wouldn't call this luck to fight such a weak foe."

The girl scowled, but it quickly was replaced with an expression of pain. She knew she was in trouble here.

Zezuri arrived to find her friend at the mercy of the bald shinigami. She rushed to Airi's side while casting a healing spell and managed to stop the wound from bleeding profusely.

"Did you find it?" Airi asked quickly.

"Yeah...but.." Zezuri was about to say something before the shinigami beat her to it.

"Whatever you're looking for doesn't belong to you. It was made by shinigami hands, and hollows like you would only use it for trouble. So let me put you both out of your misery..."

As the shinigami, Ikkaku, was ready to strike the two girls, Zezuri quickly let a large burst of blue energy emit from her hands. Catching the shinigami off guard, he tried to avoid it but it seemed to home in on him like a target until the blast finally collided with him.

"Cough, cough...K-kido..?" he said in amazement, recovering from the blast, "Well, if you are in league with them, I'll destroy you as well!" Ikkaku recuperated and was ready to challenge the brunette.

Zezuri stood her ground and glared at the shinigami, "You don't know Airi, she isn't like the rest of them! And neither am I!" her hands glowed red with rage, ready to fire.

"Zezuri, no! I can take care of this!" Airi tried to stop her friend.

The brunette was fully aware that the shinigami was beyond her level, but she had to at least try so Airi could regain her strength.

"If you think you can defeat me, think again, you little brat," Ikkaku smirked. He flashed stepped behind her and was ready to land a blow on her with his spear, but Zezuri tumbled out of the way as Ikkaku's spear collided with the concrete, scraps of cement and dirt flew in the air.

Airi let out a sigh of relief, seeing her friend dodge out of the way. Now, with Ikkaku's back to her, she pulled herself to her feet, adjusted the grip on her sword and charged at the Shinigami.

She had him exactly where she knew she could destroy him. With one blow it'd be over. Yet, as she brought her sword down, the arrancar changed the path of her sword, slicing into the shoulder of her foe.

Ikkaku let out a gasp of surprise and pain. He kept his gaze locked with Zezuri's as he collapsed on the ground in front of her.

"Airi!" she yelled. Her friend was staring at the fallen Shinigami with more bloodlust than she thought her friend was even capable of, "Stop! You won!"

Green eyes blinked a few times before Airi realized she was holding her sword to his throat. Hadn't she just missed on purpose though? Shaking her head, she sheathed her sword, "Uh... sorry," she apologized to the black-clad man, "Come on, Zezuri!" she shouted to her friend and sped off.

Hesitating whether or not to heal the wounded man in front of her, Zezuri finally followed Airi, "I'm sorry!" she yelled behind her as she chased after Airi. It was clear to her that as much as she didn't like to see anyone hurt, if she healed the Shinigami, he would continue to attack Airi.

* * *

The alleyway was destroyed. Large holes had been blasted through windows, the road was full of craters and littered with trash from the remains of what had once been a dumpster.

Oblivious to all the destruction around them, Espada and Taicho fought on.

"Yeah! Give it to him Kenny!" the pink haired girl shouted. She was too preoccupied with watching her comrade fight to notice the shiny object that lay gleaming a dark blue in the middle of the road.

Airi, on the other hand, had another case of tunnel vision as all she could see was the prize she hunted. She reached out to grab it but was suddenly blocked by an unknown sword as a cat-like creature that resembled Grimmjow was thrown backwards across the alleyway into the already battered wall of the restaurant the dumpster had belonged to.

"Don't interfere!" shouted a young voice, her eyes gleamed with vigor.

The blonde looked down to see the young girl holding her own sword up to Airi's throat.

Grimmjow burst forth out of the wall, completely destroying it. As he charged back at his opponent, he kicked up the shard. It flew up, glinting in the moonlight, as it soared over Airi's head.

Zezuri automatically put her hand out to catch the falling object before she realized what it was. As the shard made contact with her skin, she let out a scream. The shard felt like molten steel! She dropped it at once. Just what was it? A violent shudder shook her body the feeling of pain traveled up her arm and into her heart before pumping and consuming her. Zezuri felt herself lifting off the ground as her eyes rolled up into her head. Strange cuts opened and blood dripped down her arms.

Airi watched in horror, "Zezuri!" she screamed and rushed back to her friend.

Grimmjow and his foe had stopped fighting, hearing the commotion.

"What in the hell is goin' on!" Grimmjow asked uneasily.

Airi went to grab her friend but was repelled by an unseen force. She wasn't about to give up; she got back on her feet and reached for her friend again and forced her way through barrier trying to keep her away. Airi kept reaching even though there was a powerful burning, electrical sensation crawling up her arms. She knew if she didn't help Zezuri, she would burst into shreds.

Airi finally got ahold of Zezuri and pulled her down to her with all her might. She thought she would pass out for the pressure at any moment, but Grimmjow too had fought his way through and rushed over to help.

Zezuri's body was still going out of control, blood still oozed out of the cuts that kept appearing.

"Please, Zezuri, come back to me!" Airi begged.

"Damn it! I have no idea what to do!" said Grimmjow, also being strained by the pressure.

The two shinigami continued to watch intently as the arrancar tried to help their friend.

"I will not let you die! We have to stick together! Remember!" Airi kept shouting at Zezuri, hoping she could hear her, but it seemed that nothing could be done to save her.

Suddenly, everything stopped. The pressure was gone.

"Zezuri! ZEZURI!" Airi shook her friend lightly, but the brunette did not awaken. The cuts on her body remained as blood drained from them continually.

"Hmm we need to go back and report this..." the tall shinigami stated, realizing that something was clearly amiss about what they had just witnessed. They would leave without the shard for now, as something needed to be done about the girl.

Ikkaku appeared from the darkness to witness the scene and was slightly baffled and confused.

"Captain! What-" the bald shinigami was cut off.

"We are leaving for now," he ordered.

Ikkaku nodded and followed his captain and the pink haired shinigami as the disappeared into the night.

Airi was panicking. The bleeding needed to be stopped. But how? She was no healer, she didn't understand how Zezuri had healed her earlier.

"Can't you heal her?" she shouted to Grimmjow.

"NO! Arrancar can't use kido!" he retorted, how could the blonde be so clueless?

Airi grimaced, that meant she couldn't either. What to do? Zezuri would die and soon! A light breeze tugged at her friend's cape. That was it! With shaking fingers, Airi unclasped Zezuri's cape and began to tear it into strips.

"What are you doing?" asked Grimmjow, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

He was answered with a strip of fabric shoved in his face, "Tie up her other arm!" Airi quickly wrapped another strip tightly around a large gash on Zezuri's upper arm.

The two arrancar worked quickly. When they finished, Zezuri resembled a poorly made up mummy. However, the bleeding had stopped. By now all of Grimmjow's fraccion had rejoin their leader.

The sixth Espada pocketed the shard and scooped up the unconscious girl and opened the portal back to Hueco Mundo. Wordlessly the group stepped through.

* * *

"What aren't you telling us, Aizen?" shouted Grimmjow bursting through the throne room doors. He had deposited Zezuri back in her room where Airi was keeping watch over her.

Aizen looked mystified, "What are you talking about, Grimmjow?"

"This!" the Sixth Espada produced the blue shard from his pocket and tossed it to the seated man.

"What about it?" Aizen caught the shard in one hand.

"What the hell is it? And what did it do to Zezuri?"

An amused expression appeared on Aizen's face, "I do not know, tell me what happened."

* * *

Airi sat on her bed across from Zezuri. Her friend was still out cold, but at least she felt that her bandages would prevent her from bleeding to death. "C'mon, Zezuri. Don't leave me alone here," she muttered.

A white clad figure stepped into the room.

Expecting to see Szayel, she threw a glare at the intruder, "Oh, I'm sorry," Airi moved her gaze to the floor.

"May I enter?" asked Starrk.

"Yes," Airi kept her gaze on the floor. She was still embarrassed for the day she'd begged him to save Zezuri. Before she knew she was in danger herself.  
The First Espada took a good look at Airi and then at Zezuri, "What happened to her?"

"I don't know. She touched a shard of something. Aizen has Grimmjow's team collecting them," Airi described what she remembered from the mission as the other arrancar listened with mild interest showing.

When the girl had finished, Starrk stood silently, his gaze fixed on the unconscious girl as if he were mentally putting together the pieces of a puzzle.

"Airi," a familiar voice summoned her.

She looked up to see the Fourth Espada standing in the doorway. Cold green eyes staring at her.

"Come," he commanded.

"No," she glared at him.

"The Shinigami is not worth your concern. You lack power, strength and skill. That is why she got hurt; she is weak."

Airi's glare intensified, "No, I'm not leaving."

"You don't have a choice," he looked at her expectantly.

"What makes you think that?" she spat, but found herself raising to her feet. Her glare changed to confusion and then panic as her feet began to take steps across the room, "W-what?"

"No fraccion can defy their master."

"T-that's not, that's impossible!" yelled Airi.

"You can follow me on your own accord or not," replied Ulquiorra as he strode out of the room.

Airi gave a panicked look over her shoulder before exiting.

Starrk sighed and sat down on Airi's bed, still contemplating the many thoughts in his mind. Shortly after he began to doze off.

* * *

_Okay, who saw that one coming? XD I had tried to use it earlier, but I wasn't sure about it, but I'm happy with how I threw that twist in. __Questions, comments, reviews, etc are all welcome! We love hearing from you! Hope you enjoyed and see you next week! -Airumel  
_


	11. Solitude

_Hey all! Glad to report my computer's still with us! I've got a dying hard drive... :( -Airumel_

* * *

**-Chapter 11-**

Airi followed the Fourth Espada in reluctance. How had this happened? She hadn't questioned anything he'd said before, but now she was doubting herself. How much of her free will has she lost? Escape would be impossible if he had as much control over her as she thought he did.

Only when they arrived in his domain, did Ulquiorra speak, "I heard you fought with a Shinigami and were unable to take him out. That is unacceptable."

She hung her head. The words stung even though she tried to tell herself that she didn't care about his opinion of her.

"You should have been able to use your release and destroy him, instead, he got away and will become stronger himself."

Airi glared up at the taller arrancar. She was actually glad he'd lived. At least Ulquiorra seemed to be unaware that she had been about to dispatch the bald man when she remembered what she was doing. She knew her recent bloodlust wasn't part of her original self and she would do all that she could to keep herself to remain as close to what she had been.

"Now, fight me," Ulquiorra commanded as he drew his sword.

Gladly, thought Airi, drawing her own.

* * *

Zezuri awoke safe in her bed a few hours later. Sitting up, the girl noticed her arms were bandaged up with heavily bloodstained strips of fabric. Confused, she began to unwrap her right arm and wondered what in the world happened to her. Underneath, not a single cut, scab, bruise, or scar could be seen. She could not remember what happened at all last night, who's blood was on the fabric, and where was her cape? She'd just noticed the lightness of her outfit on her back. Looking to Airi's bed, she noticed that she was all alone.

Grimmjow appeared in the doorway, scaring the poor girl. He had a new cape for her in his hands.

"Thought I'd check up on ya..." he said quietly, worry in his voice.

"Thanks... but I thought you wanted nothing to do with me..." she responded weakly.

"I don't- I mean I... Here," he tossed the folded cape to her.

"What happened to my other cape? I have no idea what happened last night..." she remembered to ask.

"You don't remember? We were looking for those shards and the damn Shinigamis showed up. Then you-" he suddenly stopped, he thought it would be best not to tell her until he figured out why it happened.

"Then I what?" she asked.

"Nothing... One of the Shinigamis attacked you, Airi bandaged you with your cape."

"Where is she?" she said asking again.

"I don't know. Probably with Ulquiorra or someone. Oh yeah, you here's a new pair of gloves too," he pulled them from his pocket and handed them to her.

He proceeded to sit on the bed next to Zezuri, making her feel very perplexed.

"The shards... is there anything different about them that you can notice?" he tried asking without sounding suspicious.

"Umm I don't think so?" she knit her brow at him.

"D-don't gimme that look! I was just asking!" he said embarrassed.

"A-Are you worried about me?" the brunette suddenly became uneasy.

"NO!" the espada shouted, becoming pink in the cheeks. The moment became very awkward.

The two remained in silence for a moment, both staring at the floor.

"I, uh, I need to get back to Aizen," the Espada excused himself, face still flushed.

"Grimmjow?" Zezuri called after him.

He paused and looked over his shoulder, "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"...You're welcome," he turned away quickly so she wouldn't see his smile and left the room.

Zezuri watched him go and listened the blue-haired man's footsteps disappeared down the hall.

* * *

"We're not done yet," Ulquiorra stared emotionlessly at Airi. She leaned on her sword, kneeling on the floor, trying to catch her breath. A few cuts oozed blood, but it was all the damage she'd sustained in the past few hours she'd been relentlessly training.

"I... can't... take anymore," she gasped.

Unmerciful green eyes stared at her, "As my fraccion, it's not your choice. You will fight me."

Putting all of her weight onto her weapon, Airi pulled herself to her feet. She knew she was disappointing the Fourth Espada, and the fact that she cared bothered her immensely. However, she had no idea how to release the true power of her sword and Ulquiorra wasn't one to provide instructions. The only thing she could do was to continually block his attacks and try to fight back.

A green cero blast shot by and she knew she'd spaced out, "S-sorry!" she shouted and jumped backwards as he charged forth.

"Discard your emotions, they are worthless."

Airi nodded, but inside screamed in fury.

* * *

Zezuri was beginning to wonder if something had happened to Airi. Maybe she'd go look for her, she decided. But, as she stepped out of her room, she walked straight into someone.

"Oof! Oh! I'm sorry!" she apologized, "Oh! Airi! You're back!"

Airi remained silent as she slumped to the floor, she was very exhausted after fighting Ulquiorra.

"Ah! You're covered in wounds! I can't believe they do this to you!" the brunette exclaimed, quickly reviving her friend, "Hey, do you think we will go on another mission soon? I'm sorry, I was in the way last time when that Shinigami beat me up," Zezuri became silent as she realized she was talking to herself.

"A Shinigami beat you up?" Airi then asked as she was healed.

"Yeah... That's what Grimmjow told me at least. Why? Did something else happen?" Zezuri became ecstatic with questions again.

Airi looked at her friend suspiciously, Zezuri obviously had no memory of the night before. That and she never talked this much, something had put her in a good mood.

"No. Nothing else happened," Airi said quietly. She rose off the ground and went to her bed without another word.

"Hey... are you alright?" Zezuri asked noticing her friend was acting different.

"Please, just leave me alone..." Airi's words would have sounded annoyed, but her tone was flat and there seemed to be no meaning behind it all. She laid on her bed and faced the wall, her back to Zezuri.

Zezuri sat puzzled, wondering if she said something insulting and didn't know it. Maybe it was all coming true, Airi was starting to hate her she thought. She started to become upset and decided to leave the room.

A trail of tears scattered the hallway as Zezuri tried to figure out what went wrong.

* * *

Aizen had called his espada to the throne room to discuss the night before.

"I see... so that girl is the one," Aizen couldn't help but grin. It seemed whatever he had been searching for had come to a close, and what he had planned for the two girls was a success.

"What do you mean 'the one'?" Grimmjow asked, a little tempermental with his attitude.

"The power contained within the shards I have been collecting are identical to Zezuri's, which is why she can lead us to them and bring out their full power. Therefore, she is the one I have been searching for, her friend was also a nice addition," the sinister ex-captain continued to explain.

"Why are you telling me now?" the Sixth Espada struggled to guess at what his leader was thinking.

"You and the brunette have become, rather close, wouldn't you say?" asked Aizen rhetorically, "It would be wise to distance yourself from her. As you've seen, she can be, rather unstable."

Grimmjow tried to hide the scowl he felt coming on.

"She may appear to just be harming herself at the moment, but I would expect any future exposure to become more serious for those around her as well. However, I have another mission for you tomorrow and you will need to take her along as she is the quickest to find the shards."

Giving a shrug, Grimmjow turned and left wordlessly. As he reached the door, he heard the brief swoosh of fabric, as if someone had suddenly dashed off, but looking down the hallway in either direction, he found no one.

* * *

Zezuri strode down the hallways of Las Noches quickly. No longer crying, the girl just needed to move, suddenly finding herself in a familiar area, she opened a door and entered a sunny enclosure. The false sunlight didn't make her feel any warmer, but it was a comforting sight in it's surreal light blue sky.

Fully aware of the danger that lurked within this room, the girl seated herself next to the door she'd entered through and leaned back against the wall. The tan colored sand was a relief after countless days spent inside the white palace. Even when she'd been on the last mission, nothing had been this colorful since it had been the dead of night. Staring up at the sky, she realized how much she missed seeing it everyday. How much she missed school, home, her life...

"Hey there!"

"GAH!" Zezuri jumped to her feet and had a hand on the door when she realized it wasn't the scary tall man with the scythe.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't realize you hadn't seen me," a young man, clearly an arrancar by the bone fragment on his head, with sandy brown hair smiled at her, "You must be Zezuri."

She nodded, trying to calm her racing heart.

"I'm Tesla, Nnoitra's fraccion," he extended a hand, "Why don't we sit down, Nnoitra-sama is not here at the moment".

Zezuri took Tesla's gloved hand and he pulled her up onto a nearby rock, "What's a fraccion?" she asked, having heard the word before, but not quite sure what it meant.

When he gave he a puzzled stare, she apologized, "No one really told Airi and I what was going on..." she looked down, fighting back more tears.

"I see, sorry, I guess I didn't realize you were so in the dark on even the basics," the fraccion was a little embarrassed himself, "Well, a fraccion is kind of like a servant; we have to follow all the orders of the Espada we serve."

"What if you don't like what they tell you to do?"

"I'd still have to do it."

"That's horrible!" gasped Zezuri.

Tesla shrugged, "It's not that bad, depending on who you serve. Most of us at least get some protection in return. Not that too many other arrancar would even pick on us in the first place. You have to be pretty strong to be chosen by an Espada."

"Oh, I see," the brunette replied distantly, it still sounded bad to her.

"TESLA!" a voice shouted impatiently.

Alarm crossed his face, "He's back sooner than I thought!" grabbing Zezuri with an arm around the waist, he flashed over to the door, set the startled girl down, and flashed off to heed his master's call.

Zezuri, needing no explanation, pushed open the door and returned to the bleak hallways leaving the sunlight behind.

* * *

Zezuri arrived back in the room to find Airi sound asleep, yet her expression on her face was not peaceful. What happened to you, Airi? she wondered, what happened last night?

"Hey," Grimmjow announced his entry.

A faint smile crossed Zezuri's face as she looked up at Grimmjow, but it faded as she saw his expression, "What's wrong? You look like someone died."

"It's nothing."

"No, it's not. And you didn't tell me the truth about last night!" suddenly all of Zezuri's pent up frustration came bubbling up, "What happened to me? What happened to Airi? Why don't I remember?" she demanded.

"I don't know why you don't remember!"

"Then something happened! I knew it! What happened?"

The Espada's temper flared, "I'm not sure! One moment you were fine the next..."

"What?" angry tears welled up in her brown eyes.

"Will you two keep it down?" Airi was sitting up staring at her arguing friends. Looking at the expressions on their faces, she knew that probably wouldn't happen,

"Nevermind," she rose to her feet and walked out of the room.

"Wait... Airi..." Zezuri called behind her friend, but did not receive so much as a glance over her shoulder.

Airi's departure broke the tension in the room, "Oh, that's what you meant..." he muttered.

"Where is she going?" Zezuri wondered, "You know, don't you?" suddenly she whirled back at Grimmjow, determined to get some answers.

"Yeah, I know," he replied distantly, "I was hoping I was wrong about it."

Zezuri's rage subsided, "About what?"

"Ever since we returned, we've seen more and more of that emotionless Fourth Espada, Ulquiorra," he began.

"Yeah?"

"Well, she's an arrancar now... and a decently strong one too."

Zezuri didn't like where this was going, "You mean that...?"

"The Fourth has taken her as his fraccion; she's headed for his domain."

"Can't we stop her?" shouted Zezuri.

Grimmjow shook his head, "Stopping her isn't the problem; it's Ulquiorra who is."

Zezuri gave the Sixth Espada a desperate look, "I'm only the Sixth! Sure, I love a good fight, but that's suicide!"

"But he is turning Airi into a zombie!" the brunette declared, more tears streaming from her eyes.

"Zombie?" Grimmjow said confused, but it didn't matter, he felt like there was something he should do to stop Zezuri's sobbing, "Listen, if we try and stop them now they will make us wish we were dead. You're just gonna have to make Airi remember who she still is on your own!"

Zezuri wiped her eyes and began to calm down, "I guess you're right..." she sighed.

"That means you have to stay strong for the both of you..." he went to put a hand on her shoulder but stopped himself, "I...I need to leave..." he turned but Zezuri gently grabbed the back of his coat.

"Something is happening to me, it's not what happened to Airi, I know that much. But that makes me more afraid, because I don't know what it is... Please, tell me what happened..."

"I...I can't... I mean, I can't explain what happened to you... You reacted to the shard after it touched you. There was so much spiritual pressure emitting from you, it almost crushed us. Then the reason you were bandaged up when you woke is because your body was ripping apart from the pressure as well." he left it at that for Zezuri to contemplate, "I guess only Aizen knows why, so good luck getting answers out of him."

"I knew when I found the shard that it was a bad idea to go near I wish I knew why it was only me..." Zezuri gazed at the floor.

"Aizen also warned us that it is dangerous to be around you. I don't know if he is bluffing or not..." he watched as hope slowly drained from the girl's eyes.

As they stood together silently, the 8th espada made an entrance, "Ah, there you are," he said as Grimmjow and Zezuri both made it clear that he was unwelcome from the glares they gave him. Never the less, he ignored their stares and continued, "Aizen has assigned you a special room due to your condition with the shards. Now if you will follow me."

"So you're just gonna confine her into solitary?" Grimmjow scowled.

"I'm sorry, but you do not fully understand the situation. She is a great threat to you, and as Aizen said, it is best for you to keep your distance, same goes for the rest of us. That is why she will be confined."

Grimmjow's anger rose, but Zezuri put her hand on his. "Please, it will be alright. I can't be in the same room as Airi, it will only bring her more pain. And I won't let it happen to you..." she said quietly.

"You see Grimmjow, she know it is for the best as well. This way, please," Szayel beckoned for the girl to follow.

Zezuri held her head high and walked off without looking behind her. She'd be strong for everyone.

* * *

_Dun dun dun! Solitary confinement! Poor Zezuri! Anyways, expect more action next time! :D Comments, questions, reviews, etc. We love hearing from you! Until next time! -Airumel  
_


	12. So We Meet Again

_As promised, here's your weekly installment a few days early. :) So, for the next month and a half roughly, I'll have limited internet access and I'm not sure how often I'll be able to get on. However, I've got three more chapters in reserve to just post. However... Chev seems to be lacking motivation to write... we've hit a slower spot, but I'm not sure what's up. Crossing my fingers we'll get through this minor bump in the road. -Airumel 8/09/12_

* * *

**-Chapter 12-**

Zezuri was the last to enter the throne room. It had been three days since she'd seen anyone other than the Szayel. After he'd brought her to a room deep in the basement of Las Noches, she'd done nothing other than contemplate all the information Grimmjow had given her. At first, she simply fixated on her own potential self-destruction, but by day two, she realized that it wasn't going to be spontaneous; the shards were the obvious catalyst. Even Szayel wasn't scared to approach her and the fact that Szayel didn't seem concerned for his own safety around her strangely soothed her fears. Only on one occasion did he take a blood sample, but it came in the form of a small finger prick, after that, he'd just scribbled stuff in his notebook and served her meals.

She glanced around the bleak room, Grimmjow and his fraccion were all assembled. They looked at her nervously, save for the Espada himself, who was staring at the floor, but as soon as she looked away, she felt his blue gaze focus on her.

Airi was standing alone, off to the side, no hint of emotion showed on her face, yet she met her friend's eyes. She looked slightly battered and bruised, Zezuri knew her friend used to bruise with the smallest of injuries, but wondered if her human tendencies were preserved in Airi's arrancar body.

The blonde watched as Zezuri came to stand beside her, "Hey," she greeted the brunette quietly. Inwardly, she was glad, but at the same time really annoyed she had been forbidden to express any emotion. Ulquiorra had made his dislike of the heart and emotions quite clear over the past training sessions. In fact, he had gone as far as to repeatedly point out that arrancar lacked a heart and therefore, emotions were completely meaningless and false from those who displayed them. She didn't want to believe any of what he was saying, but his words held total power over her.

"Good, now that you all have gathered, you may proceed, Grimmjow," Aizen addressed the Sixth Espada directly, who nodded in understanding.

"Let's do this!" he shouted to the group and opened a rift.

The group proceeded forward. When it was Zezuri's turn to enter, she felt Grimmjow's hand give her a small push on her back as she hesitated, wondering if she should speak to the Espada or not.

As the pitch blackness of the portal receded, she again found herself falling. Before she could scream, Airi flashed under her, "Still no control?" she asked, but without any emotion, Zezuri couldn't tell if she was concerned or mocking her.

"T-thanks," she managed as they quickly reached the ground.

Tonight's mission was on the outskirts of a town. The downtown lights glimmered in the distance while fireflies lit up a densely overgrown park. Temporarily distracted by the wild beauty of it, Zezuri almost missed Airi's attempt to catch one of the glowing bugs.

The arrancar's eyes flicked to the nearest firefly as it lit up briefly, as it went out, she carefully reached out and cupped the insect in her hands, "Want it?" she asked her friend.

"UGH! NO!" squealed Zezuri, "You know I hate bugs!" How many times had she gotten Airi to remove various bugs from her room, even back before they had gone to Japan?

"Okay," Airi let the firefly go with total indifference.

Suddenly, it clicked together in Zezuri's mind. Airi was trying to prove that she was still herself, just lacking the ability to show any emotion.

"Hey you two!" Grimmjow shouted down to them, "Be serious or I'll tell Szayel to dissect you!"

Zezuri gasped in horror, he wouldn't!

Airi put a hand on her shoulder, "He's bluffing. You are too important to Aizen and I'm Ulquiorra's fraccion. However, time is of importance, we should find that shard."

The brunette nodded and shut her eyes to focus on the direction of the shard.

"Hmmm this one seems really faint... I am having trouble locating it..." Zezuri reported. "I feel like some sort of psychic..." she thought to herself. "Hold on! It's getting closer!" finally sensing the shard she darted around a corner to find a young boy, holding the shard and crying.

"U-ummm hello?" she asked, rushing up to him.

"He can't see you! You're a spirit!" Grimmjow shouted out to her.

But the small child heard them and looked right up at Zezuri, surprising them both.

"W-who are you?" the boy asked, tears still pouring from his eyes, and his nose was red and sticky.

"C-can you see me?" she asked waving a hand in front of his face.

"Yes... I'm lost!" he answered then cried out.

"You can't find your way home?" just then she felt someone beside her.

"Hey kid, give me that shard." Grimmjow loomed over him.

The small boy began to cry again as Grimmjow's appearance had frightened him. Zezuri gave Grimmjow a scolding look and kneeled down to the child.

"Don't worry about him. Say, if I help you find your way home, will you give us that thing you are holding?" she asked as kindly as possible.

"This?" the boy handed it out to her as it glowed. Zezuri felt a strong sensation from it and looked away.

"You have to give it to this man for me. You see, It's dangerous for me to touch it." she explained.

"B-but he is scary!" the child exclaimed.

"Hey!" offended, Grimmjow wanted to pulverize the child.

"You're not helping!" Zezuri glared. "Don't worry, I won't let the scary man hurt you. I think if you give him the shard, he will leave you alone."

"O-okay..." the boy wiped away his tears, then held out the shard with both of his hands, and shut his eyes tightly, as Grimmjow took it from him with little irritation.

Just then another figure came rushing from the darkness, it appeared to be the boy's mother.

"Takashi! There you are! I was worried sick!" she rushed past the strange group clad in white. It seemed that she could not see Grimmjow or Zezuri as she picked up her son.

"This lady was going to help me find my house." the boy replied.

"W-what lady? I told you not to talk to strangers!" the woman looked around suspiciously.

"But she is standing right here!" the boy pointed to Zezuri, but as his mother looked, she saw nothing.

"You must begin seeing ghosts..." she joked as her son looked at Zezuri horrified. "Now let's go home, your father is also worried." they walked off into the shadows as Zezuri looked at the ground.

"This existence is cruel... I always forget that I am dead..." she said quietly.

Grimmjow went to put his hand on her shoulder again, but stopped as he felt another presence from above. "They're here!" he exclaimed.

"Got that right!" shouted a gruff voice, "We never got to finish that battle, Espada!" The large spiky haired Shinigami they had encountered in their last mission charged downward sword drawn.

Grimmjow drew his sword and took the attack head on. The force of impact caused him to drop the shard. It clinked softly on the ground.

"Hey Kenny! That girl's alive!" shouted the pink haired girl as she landed on a low branch of a nearby tree, "Hey! How are you still living!" she yelled at Zezuri.

Zezuri stepped back, unsure of what the small Shinigami wanted.

"And why are you with them?"

"Yachiru," another voice announced the arrival of Ikkaku.

"What is it, Baldy?"

The bald Shinigami glared at his comrade, "Ever consider that she works for Aizen?"

Yachiru put a hand up to her chin contemplating the thought, "Nope. She doesn't."

"WHAT?"

"I said she doesn't. Are you stupid?"

As the two Shinigami bickered, Airi made for the forgotten shard lying forgotten a short distance away. Grimmjow and Kenpachi fought a good distance off and the others seemed to have completely forgotten it.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you," a voice made the blonde spin on her heel to come almost face to face with another Shinigami. In the brief second she glanced up at him, she saw his face turn from threatening to very confused. She too would have had the same expression had she been able to show any emotion. Before either could say a word a blue arrow of energy shot near the arrancar's feet and she flashed away.

The shinigami stood in bewilderment at what he thought he'd just seen. The gleam of the shard at his feet signaled him back to reality as he picked it up and pocketed it wordlessly.

"Kurosaki! Are you just going to stare down the enemy or are you going to fight?" yelled a young man with dark hair and glasses. He ran in the direction Airi had fled in, white and blue outfit billowing behind him.

"Ishida! Hold up!" the orange-haired Shinigami called causing the other to stop in his tracks.

"It's getting away," annoyance ran through his voice.

"I know," Ichigo sheathed his sword, "And it's not 'it', it's a her."

"Why do you care?"

"I think I know her."

* * *

Airi sped off away from everyone. She knew that guy; he'd been the one who'd bumped into Zezuri the day before they'd been kidnapped! But how was he here? And why was he a Shinigami? Questions swirled around in her mind at a frightening speed but it all came down to one thing: she needed to talk to him. However, first she needed to find Zezuri.

* * *

"Well? Are you?" the pink haired girl asked Zezuri, gazing down at her intently from her perch.

"I... uh, I'm not on Aizen's side..." she managed to answer the question.

"Ha! I told you so, BALDY!" she laughed.

Ikkaku ignored the young girl, the look of uncertainty still on his face, "Then why did you attack me last time?"

"I did?" Zezuri's memory of the prior mission were blurry at best, "I-I'm sorry."

The bald man raised an eyebrow at Zezuri and then looked up at his comrade, "I'm still not convinced, but I think we should let the Tenth Division know."

"Zezuri," Airi spoke appearing beside her friend suddenly.

The brunette flinched in surprize; Airi was really starting to become more and more like Ulquiorra, wasn't she?

"I believe I ran into some of our classmates. The orange-haired one that ran into you in the hallway. He's here. He's a Shinigami," Airi reported, struggling against her orders to have no emotion.

"He's what!"

Yachiru and Ikkaku exchanged a silent agreement upon hearing the exchange of words between Airi and Zezuri, "Get the captain," Ikkaku told his comrade and both flashed out of the area.

"Are you sure?" Zezuri asked.

"I would not have said anything if I wasn't."

Grimmjow suddenly flashed over to the two girls, "I don't know what just happened," he growled, "But you'd better have the shard."

"What happened?" Zezuri asked.

"The Shinigami ran away again! Now where's the shard?" he looked at Airi.

"I believe that Ichigo Kurosaki had it last."

"WHAT! YOU LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT?" Airi's emotionless tone only made the Sixth Espada more upset.

"I apologize. I was distracted."

The other members of the group were arriving now, "Did any of you grab that shard?"

All the responses were negative.

"What good are any of you?" he muttered opening a rift back to Las Noches.

They returned silently into the night world of Las Noches, Aizen waiting for them in the throne room.

"I see you have failed this time, Grimmjow. I recall us having a deal where I let you live despite your earlier betrayal, as long as you can complete the tasks I give you," Aizen sounded disappointed but made no move to carry through on his threats.

"The Shinigami are up to something. I'm not sure if they are after the shard or not but they know something about our captives. They keep running from us," Grimmjow reported.

"I suppose the trip for the final shard I shall require more assistance to you. Be prepared first thing in the morning, I will send a higher force along with you," Aizen waved his hand for them to leave.

In the halls the group split, Airi tried to stay by Zezuri, but felt an unnerving calling that beckoned her to the 4th Espada. She left the two without saying anything, as

Zezuri watched her go wordlessly before turning to the blue haired espada, who looked like a ticking time bomb.

"So tomorrow-" she was cut off as the espada finally exploded.

"Damn him! I can't take this anymore! I'LL KILL HIM!" Grimmjow slammed his fist into the nearest wall, as a large hole crumbled in front of them.

Zezuri watched the frustrated man with caution, hoping he wouldn't turn on her.

"We're all better dead anyway! He'll finish us off once he is done getting these damn things!" he continued to rant.

"Please calm down, I doubt he will get anything out of killing us. Maybe he'll leave us alone," Zezuri tried to persuade the espada from breaking any more walls.

Grimmjow became silent before looking the brunette straight in the eyes. "Don't get your hopes up. You and your friend won't get out of this alive. Whatever he is planning has everything to do with you!" he grabbed her shoulders, startling her. He then let go and looked around bewildered. "What the hell is wrong with me...?" he muttered. "You should get some sleep," he said quietly and left her alone in the hall.

Zezuri did not want to be left alone, tomorrow could be then end of everything for all she knew. Aizen could kill them, but even if he didn't, what would happen if they failed to bring back the next shard? What was it about those shinigami, they were up to something from the sounds of it. And learning that Ichigo Kurosaki was a shinigami was even more surprising. She felt a small bit of hope that if she could reach him, he could help them get away from Aizen forever. The shinigami were powerful and running into them again would cause problems, but Zezuri hoped she would get a chance to run into the orange haired boy.

She was so lost in thought she didn't hear the footsteps of the pink-haired Espada until she almost ran into him. "Oh, hello Zezuri, back from your quest?"

Zezuri peered up at Szayel fearfully. She'd completely forgotten about solitary confinement with the events of today. Was she still a danger to everyone? She wondered as the Espada led her back to her cell. Would the Shinigami be able to help her at all?

* * *

Airi dreaded every step she took towards the Fourth Espada's domain. She knew what was awaiting her; the fathomless green eyes of her master and his gaze of disappointment and maybe even disgust. She never could figure out why he'd even chosen to take her as his fraccion in the first place. He'd never said a good thing about her once.

As she entered into the large black room Ulquiorra turned to look at her. Two pairs of green eyes met, but to Airi's surprise, it was not displeasure in her master's eyes at all. "I know you are expecting me to be displeased with your performance this past mission. However, the failure of the mission rests on the leader, which you were not."

The fraccion looked away from the Espada quickly. What was it in his eyes that was making her so uncomfortable?

Ulquiorra continued, "This next mission, I will be the leader. Stay close to me and there is no way that petty Sixth can fail Aizen-sama's wishes again."

Airi began to fidget with her hair. Emotion still absent from her face, she wasn't sure what she was feeling right now. Pride? Joy? Relief? But why? She hated this man, if she could even call an arrancar one, but then again, she too was an arrancar. Wishing for nothing more than to rush back to the safety of hers and Zezuri's room, Airi tried to push her thoughts aside.

The Fourth Espada reached out and touched her mask fragments on the side of Airi's head and let his hand slowly travel down through her long blonde hair.

What the hell? Airi was completely bewildered, all further thoughts became too jumbled to be coherent.

"You've done well, rest up. You will need to be at your best tomorrow. The Shinigami are planning to make a move."

* * *

An emergency captains meeting had been called in the Seireitei. Despite the pre-dawn hour, all of the captains were in attendance in the meeting hall of the First Division. Hours passed as they listened in length to the 11th Squad's recounting of the past encounters with Aizen's forces.  
By the time the sun was well past the rooftops of the surrounding buildings they had come to a decision. The strange girl must be taken, alive or dead.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it and you'll stick around for the next installment. Should I not be able to access this site, Wong will be doing my weekly update. Or Chev. Hopefully. Anyways, you're getting closer to what we've written up to so any suggestions at this point for plot or any crazy randomness you'd like to maybe see happen might if you let us know! Even if the characters haven't made it into the story yet. Trust me, I can pull in any of the cannon Bleach characters. Until next time! -Airumel  
_


	13. Chaos & Fear

_Good news! I have a new hard drive! Bad news, we actually haven't gotten anything written again... Chev's unmotivated or too involved with other stuff I guess. :( But, I do have enough for a few more weeks at the moment. And I'm on a really limited internet access until mid-October since I'm currently living in the middle of no where. -Airumel (8/17/12)_

* * *

**-Chapter 13-**

The last tendrils of golden sun were painting the clouds a bright red as the luminous orb sank beneath them. Ichigo Kurosaki leaned back on a bridge watching the setting sun, "You're here already?" a shorter young woman walked up the bridge to stand beside the orange-haired young man. Both wore the black hakama and gi of the Shinigami.

"Urahara-san predicted they'd show up around here," he stood up and stretched his arms above his head, "I can't help but think he's somehow involved in this... and that arrancar... looked just like... one of the two girls who died a few months ago."

"It is a possibility that it could have been her, but even if it were her I would assume her soul has been completely erased," his companion voiced her opinion.

"I have no doubt it's her. And she recognized me, she must have, otherwise, why would she flee? I didn't get the feeling that she was a weakling."

Further argument was cut off by an odd sensation as if the fabric of the world was being torn apart. "They're here..." commented the woman.

* * *

There was no way to hide a group of this size and the arrancar were not even trying to cloak their presence as they stepped out of a rift into the darkening sky. The Sixth Espada and his fraccion, Zezuri, the Fifth Espada Nnoitra, Tesla, and finally Ulquiorra and Airi arrived in the river area of Karakura.

"Where is the shard, woman?" Ulquiorra took command as he was the highest ranking Espada present.

After closing her eyes for a moment, Zezuri pointed west toward the setting sun and a bridge that had just been evicted by the two figures that had stood on it. At once the group sped off through the air towards the indicated direction leaving Zezuri behind with Airi as a guard.

An explosion of spiritual pressure suddenly welled up. Black garbed figures surrounded the large force of white. Four of the newcomers wore the white over cloak of the captain rank. Chaos erupted as steel met with steel all around.

The girls watched as the white and black figures fought, they seemed evenly matched for the moment. However, Airi doubted any of them could stand up to Ulquiorra. After all, he was one of the most powerful Espada in Las Noches! Wait a moment, why was she thinking like this again? Airi shook her head in an attempt to clear her mind. Looking at Zezuri, she spoke, "Let's retrieve that shard."

"Not so fast," a female voice came from behind.

The two girls turned to see a rather busty Shinigami with flowing orange hair, "You're not getting that shard today," she glared at Airi.

"Zezuri. Run," Airi stated to her friend wishing she could at least sound urgent.

Zezuri hesitated but knew that retrieving the last shard was urgent, and she had faith in Airi's abilities. She had sensed that Airi's training over the last few days had resulted in her obtaining greater power. She turned to run after giving Airi and the Shinigami one last look, and headed toward the shards direction. Little did she realize that she was being followed by another Shinigami.

* * *

Meanwhile Nnoitra was pitted against another Shinigami captain who wore a lightly colored scarf, as Grimmjow was facing the 11th captain, Kenpachi once again. The battle was fierce, both sides were already suffering from several wounds. Grimmjow knew he would need the powers of his Resurrección again to fight the shinigami captain.

"Hopefully I won't be interrupted again! Grind,Pantera!" he held up his sword as it began to glow with a light blue color. He quickly swept his hand along the length of the blade, releasing a vast amount of spiritual pressure. As tremendous gusts of wind began to clear, the 6th Espada's appearance had changed drastically.

The Espada's change did not put any fear into the shinigami captain as he held his ground, "This trick again? How disappointing!" Kenpachi had also decided to raise the stakes and torn off the eye patch over his face, and threw it to the ground. Spiritual pressure rose even more from the masochist captain as both men seemed to be enjoying themselves.

* * *

Ulquiorra was not far off as he was having a staring match with the canine shinigami captain. He knew the arrancar's powers were dangerous, but he was not about to fail his mission.

* * *

Zezuri ran towards the bridge as fast as she could, hoping to reach the shard on time. She quickly stopped in her tracks as she felt the presence of another, but when she turned to look, no one was there. But she had no time to waste and had to run faster to her destination. She reached the vicinity of the bridge and stopped to catch her breath. The brunette knew someone was close by as she tried to concentrate on the shard's location once again.

* * *

"Hey, looks like one of them is down there!" the young woman who was accompanying Ichigo on the bridge noticed Zezuri down below. "I think she is looking for the shards!"

"I'll stop 'em!" Ichigo lept from the edge as he zeroed in on the unsuspecting Zezuri.

"Wait, Ichigo!" the Shinigami woman called, but it was futile as she followed him to the rivers edge.

* * *

Zezuri began to lose her nerve and looked around nervously as she sensed so much spiritual pressure. All of the power was messing with her head as she had trouble sensing anything. She gasped with surprise as she gazed up at the sun, its rays fading and giving her a clear view of her would-be attacker.

"Ichigo!" she exclaimed.

Hearing this, the orange haired shinigami tried to slow his pace but collided with the ground in order to dodge her. The shinigami woman, however, landed gracefully.

"Y-you're alive too?" he said in shock as the dust cleared, "I knew I wasn't seeing things!"

"I need your help! I-" she stopped as the presence that was following her before had made itself visible.

"Out of the way, Ichigo!" a tall man with red hair and strange tattoos stepped out of the shadows.

"Renji!" Ichigo said surprised as his comrade intimidatingly flashed his sword.

"I was waiting for her to retrieve the shard before I took her back to the Soul Society for further inspection."

"But I know her! She went to my school, so did the other!" Ichigo tried to clear the situation, "But you don't look like you're an arrancar..." he said a little relieved.

"That doesn't change the fact she is working for Aizen. She needs to be brought in immediately!" the female shinigami spoke harshly.

"Rukia is right, we are also to bring in any of the arrancar we can reprimand. They'll tell us all they know about Aizen before we execute them." the flame haired shinigami glared at Ichigo who was looking straight back at him with defiance.

"Execute?!" Zezuri finally got a word in edgewise, "You don't understand! Aizen-!"

"Save it for later, pipsqueak!" Renji ordered.

"N-no! I was only looking for your help!" Zezuri backed away. As she began to panic, the shard that was nearby, began to glow, Zezuri felt her power raising with it.

"The shard!" Rukia exclaimed but was forced back from the shining object's pressure, "I can't get near it!"

"I still can't touch it..." Zezuri thought, deciding not to dive for the shard.

* * *

Airi was locked in battle with the female shinigami when she sensed Zezuri's spiritual pressure soar. I don't have time for this one! She thought frantically. She attempted to thrust her opponent aside as their swords clashed against each other.

"Don't think you're getting by me that easy!" shouted the Shinigami, as she resumed her attack stance, "Haineko, Growl!" Her blade dissolved into dust and flew at the unsuspecting arrancar who stopped in her tracks as the ashes left deep cuts wherever they made contact.

Wanting to scream, Airi found herself falling to the ground, blood streaming around her. This was it, wasn't it? She'd be killed here, by a stranger, and Zezuri, what of her? She'd probably be killed too...

"No!" A voice inside her mind yelled, "We're not out of this yet!"

As if someone had suddenly turned on a light, Airi knew she had a chance against this Shinigami. Better than a chance. She knew she could destroy her. For a brief moment the realization of how much power she had caused Airi's feet to freeze in place.

"HAAAAAAAHHHH!" the shinigami charged in, sword again solid and raised.

Raising her sword in her left hand, she held the shimmering metal blade parallel to the ground over her head, "Rage! Oceano viento!"

A strong wind pushed back the charging Shinigami. She put her arms up to shield herself as she watched the arrancar girl transform into her released form. As the raised sword disintegrated, the white feather-like mask fragments in the blonde's hair grew in size and an identical set formed on the other side of her face. Three sets of short, white feathered wings erupted from her upper back, a set of tail-feathers formed on her lower back, while her fingers grew into sharp looking talons.

Airi found herself drowning suddenly in power. She couldn't remember anything. Who was she? What was she doing?

Fight.

The one word swam through her mind.

After the transformation was complete, the Shinigami didn't hesitate for a second. Unleashing her sword's power, she attempted to cut down her opponent in one move. Yet, as the ashes approached the monstrous form of the fully released arrancar, it blew back.

"Matsumoto! Look out!" a captain had temporarily broken away from the chaotic fight in the middle of the sky.

"Toshiro?" gasped his lieutenant as her captain blocked the returned ashes with a wave of ice from his sword.

"It's CAPTAIN HITSUGAYA, and pay more attention to your opponent's power level! She's clear past a good number of the others."

"Yes, sir!"

The two shinigami made ready to fight Airi.

A twisted smile crossed her face as some of her long blonde hair fell across her face. She couldn't remember even Ulquiorra's orders not to show emotions. Craving the spilling of blood she lifted a taloned hand skyward. A torrent of water and wind engulfed her opponents. Not waiting for the first attack to end, the arrancar flashed in before either Shinigami could blink. Talons stretch out she clawed at her original attack, sending her to the ground.

"Matsumoto!" shouted Hitsugaya in dismay.

His lieutenant fell to the ground, but remained motionless.

"You... you'll pay for that!" he growled, "Bankai!"

* * *

Komamura, the fox-headed captain of the 7th division now fought with all of his might against Ulquiorra. Yet, even in bankai, he was struggling against the unreleased Fourth Espada. What unnerved the 7th captain the most was how calm his opponent remained. When it finally broke, it was not of any attack the Shinigami had thrown.

A concerned look crossed the Fourth Espada's pale face as he felt his control of Airi slip away. He'd thought she'd been strong enough that she wouldn't scumb to her natural hollow instincts.

"We're done," green eyes stared calmly at the huge fox creature.

"What?" Komamura asked before he was cut down by an unseen bolt of lightning.

As the unconscious form of the over-sized Shinigami crashed into the river, Ulquiorra sped off to reclaim his fraccion.

* * *

From afar, Grimmjow also felt Zezuri's rise in spiritual pressure. He remembered the last time she came into contact with the shard and hoped she had not made the same mistake again. A look of worry crossed his face for a brief moment before turning to his opponent.

"No more playin' around!" he growled.

"Wouldn't count on it. But Aizen's little tool is probably being taken care of by now, along with the shard," Kenpachi said in a cocky tone. "You're all fools to think we'd come unprepared," he laughed.

Grimmjow clenched his jaw, knowing that they were in trouble. He needed to save Zezuri and take the shard back to Las Noches, but that plan was slowly fading away.

* * *

_Dun dun dun... cliffhanger! And Airi's release! :) It was a bit difficult to figure out her abilities. Last time around she used electricity and was a bat, but... there's another character that suddenly had very similar powers and the same kind of wings... so I wanted to make it a bit different. Anyhow... thanks for reading! And hopefully see you next week! -Airumel_


	14. An Exchange of Custody

_Sorry everyone that this update is a day later than I'd planned. I can't keep track of what day of the week it is because I'm out working unless it's raining. Anyways, Chev worked a little on the story in the past week and that's about it. Hopefully, we'll have a chapter 16 in two weeks... in the meantime, enjoy chapter 14! -Airumel 8/25/2012_

* * *

**-Chapter 14-**

Zezuri had taken a defensive stance in apprehension of the oncoming battle against the red haired shinigami, Renji.

"So you think you can take me in a match? Look at you, you're shaking like a leaf in a storm! I guess Aizen's lackeys aren't very smart!" he taunted.

Zezuri didn't have any words to back her up on this decision and continued to glare him down.

"We don't know anything yet, Renji! Stop threatening her!" Ichigo was ready to pull his sword on his shinigami comrade.

"Enough you two! Ichigo don't start a fight here!" Rukia ordered. "You there! It's best if you rethink your choice of action!" she continued to command.

"I won't let you take me anywhere!" Zezuri started to become desperate as power glowed in her hands.

"Your name is Zezuri, right? They're right, it's not a good idea to fight them." Ichigo tried to change her mind.

Zezuri couldn't hear anything anymore, all she could think about was trying to stay alive. A small trickle of sweat dripped down her temple as she started to panic.

* * *

The air around Hitsugaya suddenly became cold as his sword arm became encased in ice upon the use of his bankai. Towering wings of ice and a tail to match crackled into existence. The blonde arrancar seemed not to notice any of this. Mad with power she was no longer in control of her actions. The battle commenced as the Captain flew at his opponent with a wave of ice.

* * *

Airi had awoken again on the stony shore of her dreams. All around her the starry sea churned with choppy waves. Yet all the waves seemed to be moving away from the small island.

Turning her attention from the sea to behind her, she found the black haired girl standing in the middle of the island, arms raised, purple eyes distant. Her short black hair whipped around as if she were being battered by an unseen wind. A strange expression was on her face, somewhere between a grin and a grimace.

"Hey! Stop!" yelled Airi, rushing over urged by her sense that this was very wrong.

The girl didn't change her gaze, "This is what we wanted. Power. Strength. To overpower those who threatened us," her voice was raspy and strained.

Her words were true; Airi remembered as every instance of wanting power flashed through her mind. "No," she spoke after a while, "No. I wanted power, but to protect myself and Zezuri. Not to destroy those who opposed me!"

"Regardless, this is what we are. Hollow, empty, hungry... that is what it means to be an arrancar."

"But we weren't!"

"SILENCE!" the girl screamed.

The waves surged towards the rocky island.

* * *

The Tenth Captain was starting to wear down Airi. The bird-like arrancar drew ragged breaths and her right arm hung limp at her side; clearly broken. Yet, she fought on with all the fire she'd started with, grinning a manic smile.

Hitsugaya was faring much better, only a few cuts slowly bled out scattered on his body. His opponent was powerful, but her mind was clearly not together which was the primary reason he held such an advantage.

Instinct took over as he dodged another attack. A green cero had almost hit him from behind, but how? Hitsugaya looked around. There. How had he missed the most powerful member of the enemy?

Ulquiorra followed the cero up with a powerful slash attack as he flew into the fight.

The Shinigami quickly blocked and pushed away from the new foe. Whirling around, he was barely in time to cast a shield of ice against a gale force wind attack from the blonde arrancar. This wasn't good, he thought, sure, the one was no problem, but even one on one, he doubted his powers against the newcomer. To fight them both at the same time would be suicide, but he couldn't leave his wounded lieutenant behind. Looking to where Matsumoto had fallen, he was relieved to see she was no longer there. Now with no one other than himself to worry about, he quickly came to a decision. He needed to take out the weak one now! It was his only chance for escape.

"Airi. Go back to Las Noches. You cannot fight like that," the Fourth Espada commanded the blonde.

She turned to face him with unfocused eyes. Who was this? Who was Airi? Why did he think he could boss her around? Thoughts flashed through her muddled mind.

Acting on the one instinct she trusted, the arrancar charged in, snarling, wind and water lashing out from her arms.

Ulquiorra took the attack at full force. Silently he cursed himself for not expecting this outcome. In the same moment, he raised his sword and cut down his fraccion.

Blood spewed from her left shoulder as the steel cut through fabric, skin, muscle and bone. An anguished cry left her mouth as her release shattered to pieces and she fell. Upon impact she made not a sound and became motionless.

The Fourth Espada glanced at his opponent, he had been distracted by the female arrancar's rebellion and missed his opportunity to escape. "I will collect her after I've dealt with you."

* * *

Zezuri continued to stand her ground, not taking her eyes off the fierce shinigami before her.

"We're out of time! They should be here by now!" shouted Rukia.

Zezuri quickly wondered who they were talking about, but as soon as she took her eyes off Renji, he had flashed stepped next to her. Before she could yell out or retaliate with an attack, he knocked her out with butting the hilt of his sword into her stomach.

"Hey, what are you doing?" exclaimed Ichigo, readying to fight Renji once again.

"Would you rather I actually fight her and cut her with my sword?" Renji rose an eyebrow in Ichigo's direction as he held the unconscious brunette in his arms, "Put your Zanpakuto away, Captain Soi-Fon should be here soon to-" he did not finish as the previous Captain mentioned, had already made her entrance.

"You already have the girl? Where is the shard?" she demanded.

"It's over there, but we couldn't reach it while she was conscious..." Rukia replied.

Ichigo had already wandered over and picked up the shard. He held it in his hand and gazed at its peculiar glow.

"Hand it over, Kurosaki." Soi-Fon interrupted his thoughts, "Kuchiki will take it from here."

* * *

Matsumoto awoke under a canopy of dark leaves rustling in a light breeze.

"Ah! Matsumoto fuku-taicho! Please don't move until I can finish bandaging your arm!" squeaked a younger male Shinigami.

"Oh... of course..." the lieutenant of Tenth division slowly looked around. She was still in the human world, that was for sure. But what had happened? She could sense her captain's presence, but it was only for a fleeting moment as the pain from her injuries blocked out her other senses.

"There! All done!" her rescuer backed up and rose to his feet, "Can you stand? I'm afraid I can't carry you too far..." he held out a hand.

Rangiku lightly grabbed the offered arm for support as she rose slightly unsteadily to her feet, "Thank you, uh... I know you... what was your name again?"

"Hanataro Yamada, Seventh Seat, Fourth Division, ma'am".

Normally, being called "ma'am" would have annoyed the tenth lieutenant, but her head was too fuzzy to make much sense of anything.

"Here, lean on my shoulder," Hanataro offered as he placed one of Rangiku's arms over his shoulders, "We need to get to the others."

Slowly the two began to move towards the location of Soi-Fon. Dry leaves crackled and twigs snapped underneath the feet of the two shinigami despite their efforts to move with caution. Hanataro cast his senses around every now and again, but no enemy, or ally for that matter, had made any acknowledgement of their presence.

Matsumoto was watching the ground in front of her and focusing all of her remaining energy into lifting her feet high enough so she did not trip on anything.

The healer withdrew his senses back to their immediate area and stopped dead in his tracks almost dropping his ward.

A white-clad figure stood in their way.

"GAAAAHHH!" screamed the healer.

The wounded lieutenant looked up at the figure who stood in their way. Tall, male, with dark brown hair past his shoulder, and undoubtedly an arrancar as noted by the jaw bone around his neck. She removed her arm from around Hanataro's neck and slowly drew her sword. If this was how it would end, she wasn't going without a fight. Maybe she could at least let the healer escape. Her hands were shaking violently with effort as she pushed herself into a ready fighting stance.

"Wait," the arrancar spoke, "I didn't come here to fight," he held up his hands to show they were empty.

Matsumoto raised an eyebrow quizzically.

Looking at Hanataro, he spoke again, "You, the healer, I have a request."

"Y-yes?" stammered Hanataro, who was quaking in fear.

"I need you to take the girl your comrade was fighting with you," he paused and looked away, "She's not supposed to be like that."

Hanataro gulped. He looked at the wounded lieutenant. She wore the same confused expression he did.

Sensing that the words of the arrancar were true for the moment, Matsumoto let out a sigh. "It's okay, do as he says," she sheathed her sword, "I don't trust him, but we don't have much of a choice."

"W-will you b-be alright if I leave you h-here?" Hanataro asked not wanting to tarnish the reliable name of the Fourth Division.

The arrancar spoke, "I'll take her somewhere safe, just go! You're running out of time!" urgency filled his words and Hanataro scrambled off. "Pardon me, Miss."

Matsumoto found herself lifted off the ground as if she weighed close to nothing. She wanted to protest, but knew it was pointless. Confusion had already set in as the scenery around her blurred.

Almost as soon as it had started, everything became still again. Whoever it had been had left her alone on the middle of a bridge. Casting out her senses, the lieutenant found Renji's familiar presence nearby. She carefully pulled herself to her feet and staggered towards the end at which she'd detected her friend.

* * *

Spurred by the stranger's urgency, Hanataro cast out his senses as he ran back to where he'd picked up Matsumoto. Captain Histugaya was locked in fierce battle with a very powerful arrancar, one so strong, he almost lost his nerve. Yet, a wounded person was in trouble. Granted this was an arrancar he was going to rescue, but something in the way the stranger had asked made Hanataro overlook that factor.

Nearing the battle site, he carefully repressed all of his spiritual pressure as low as he could. Scanning around with his brown eyes he locked onto the still form of the blonde arrancar. Waiting in a nearby brush, Hanataro waited until he was sure that all possible enemies were far enough away. Taking a big gulp of air, the healer flashed over to the unconscious girl, put her arm over his shoulder and flashed back to the brush as fast as he could. Knowing flash stepping had likely blown his cover, he didn't stop there and kept going as fast as he could.

* * *

Ulquiorra had noticed the weak Shinigami as he'd lain in wait but had falsely assumed his intentions. Unable to break away from his battle with the icy captain, rage overtook him briefly as the shinigami made off with Airi, but he hid it under his ever-calm expression. He'd get her back. All in good time.

* * *

The 6th Espada decided he was wasting his time fighting the 11th captain. After all, he had sensed both Zezuri and Airi's spiritual pressure fade away quite some time ago. A grim look crossed his face as he wondered if they lost or won whatever battle they were up against, but he knowing Zezuri's weaker power, he doubted it.

"I'm done here!" he said, changing back into his original form. He wiped blood from his brow. But he looked at Kenpachi quizzically as he began to chuckle.

"It's not over, Espada!" he laughed louder. As Grimmjow looked upwards, he found a dozen Stealth Force shinigami, surrounding him.

"Resistance is futile!" one of the ninja garbed shinigami spat.

Grimmjow grinned, finding it funny that a group of the Stealth Force could think to take him out. "I've got no time to waste with you! Come at me if you want, but I got somewhere I need to be!" a cero blast formed into his hand before his released it against the shinigamis. As they avoided the blast, Grimmjow found an opening and began to flash step with what strength he had left, in the direction he last sensed Zezuri.

* * *

Meanwhile Renji was still holding Zezuri as Ichigo tossed the shard over to Rukia. "I still don't like this one bit..." he muttered.

In a flash Hanataro arrived with Airi, out of breath and tripped over his own feet. The group looked at him with surprise as the 4th squad healer scrambled to get back on his feet. "U-umm-" he began, embarrassed, noticing the blonde he had also dropped when he fell.

"What the hell?" Soi-Fon starred at the arrancar that had just been dropped at her feet.

"Soi-Fon t-tachio!" Hanataro gulped and looked at his feet knowing he had some serious explaining to do.

"It's alright, Hanataro," Rangiku called over to the group as she limped from the bridge, "We were asked to retrieve her by another arrancar, an Espada from my estimate..." she tried to explain.

"What do you mean?" Soi-Fon asked, slightly irritated. But before she could finish, there seemed to be a commotion headed their way.

Grimmjow was managing to avoid the Stealth Forces attempts to strike him, but he was quickly wearing down. However, they stopped chasing him as he arrived in front of the group of ranked Shinigamis. His face turned to dismay and anger when he saw Renji with Zezuri in his arms.

The Espada soon lost his energy, and fell to one knee. A member of the Stealth Force shinigami quickly held Grimmjow at knife point to the neck, "Should I finish him, Captain Soi Fon?" he asked. Soi Fon quietly walked over and looked down at the wrathful arrancar, "You must be an Espada, a normal hollow would not be able to avoid my men so easily... But we have no use for you."

Just before she gave the orders to exterminate the Espada, Zezuri's eyes snapped open, "Grimmjow!" she cried out with desperation. The Espada looked back at her with weary eyes, but they were still full of conflict. The distressed girl also noticed Airi's unconscious and badly wounded form, but her moment snapped back to Grimmjow's plight. "Stop!" she pleaded to the Shinigami holding a sword to the spent Espada's neck.

"Quiet you!" Renji continued to hold the girl as she began to struggle.

"Please, I'll do anything!" tears formed in her eyes as she did not want to see her friend die.

Soi-Fon looked from Grimmjow to Zezuri with piqued curiosity, "I see, maybe we do have some use for you. Take both of these arrancars!" she shouted to her division.

"B-but..." began Hanataro, the blonde was his responsibility after all. Plus she needed serious medical attention; her spiritual pressure was slipping away. Yet what could he do? He had no authority here and there was no way he could challenge Soi-Fon... she'd kill him. Looking to Ichigo, he met the carrot-top's eyes.

"Oy, Soi-Fon-tachio?" Ichigo asked.

"What?" the female captain's voice was filled with ice.

"Air- the girl arrancar, she needs some medical attention!"

"Hmph. We saved her. What more do we need to do?"

"But-"

"ENOUGH KUROSAKI! Know your place!" she turned her back to the substitute, "Take them to the division."

"Yes ma'am!" The a ninja-garbed shinigami summoned an ornate paper door in the air and walked through carrying the dying Airi over a shoulder. He was followed by a few more from the division leading a scowling Grimmjow along with them.

"This isn't right, tachio," muttered Rangiku. She wasn't fond of the blonde, but like Hanataro, she felt responsible for her.

"Matsumoto," the second captain spoke.

Rangiku jumped, had the captain heard her?

"You should go too, you're not capable of further battle. You'll only hold us back."

The lieutenant nodded and entered the portal.

Soi-Fon began to issue commands to the remaining group, "That goes for you too Abarai, take that girl with you. Kuchiki, take the shard to the general-captain. Yamada, make yourself useful or get out of my sight. And Kurosaki, assist me in retrieving Hitsugaya."

"You... want my help?" Ichigo was stunned.

"I will only ask once. The opponent Hitsugaya currently faces is the most powerful opponent here." Without waiting for his response, Soi-Fon was already flashing toward the tenth captain.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! We love hearing from all of you! You're our inspiration to keep writing! -Airumel  
_


	15. A New Prison

_Hey everyone! I've decided to upload a day early because I can (And because it's my day off!). :) Before you start, I will warn you that this chapter... okay, one paragraph is sort-of graphic... but... I don't think it's any worse than a PG-13 rating still. The first part of this chapter was originally going to be posted as the end of the last one, but I felt it belonged better here. -Airumel (8/31/2012)_

* * *

**-Chapter 15-**

Grimmjow was thrown hastily into a dark cell in the basement of the second division. He'd gone without a struggle, fearing any resistance from him may bring harm to Zezuri.

As a guard swung the door to his cell shut with a clang, the arrancar looked around. Three stone walls and heavily spelled bars surrounded him. He leaned on the bars cautiously; nope, no way he was getting out. Even if he had been at his full strength, this prison had been constructed to contain something even more powerful than him. Each of the walls seemed solid and no spots seemed to show even the slightest hint of weakness. He was trapped.

It was only when he almost tripped over her that Grimmjow found that Airi had been discarded in the cell with him. Alarmed that he hadn't felt her presence at all, he knelt down and examined his wounded comrade. She lay in a crumpled heap, as if she'd just been dropped on the floor by the guard. Grimmjow looked at her in pity; she didn't have much longer to live. Blood seeped from many a wound on Airi's body. Her right arm looked broken in more ways than just one. She drew very shallow breaths that ended in a gurgle, suggesting some internal damage as well. The rest of her hadn't fared much better; even the battle-hardened Espada had to look away at the sight of a bone sticking out from her leg as he laid Airi on her back. At least she'd go in a slightly more dignified way.

* * *

Renji was on his way to 6th division, dragging Zezuri along with him. "Please, I need to heal them! Airi is going to die!" she continued to struggle.

"Quiet! They're going to die anyway! Now stop wasting my time, Captain Kuchiki is waiting for us!" he said, losing his patience. He opened a pair of paper doors, leading to the captain's quarters. Not only was the 6th division captain there, but also Kenpachi and another woman who was healing his wounds after he fought Grimmjow.

"Captain Kuchiki, I've brought the girl." the red head thrust the girl towards the awaiting group of captains by her arm.

Zezuri looked up at them with fright, but continued her protest. "Just let me-!" she was quickly cut off by Captain Kuchiki.

"Silence!" he spoke harshly, "Are you working for Aizen, girl?"

"N-no! But it will take too long to tell you what I've been through! I need to help them! Please, I'll tell you everything if you let me heal them! It's all I ask!" tears welled up in her eyes again, although crying would not get through the austere captain.

"Captain Kuchiki, I think it would best if we let her go to them," the only female member of the group spoke softly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Unohana," the 6th captain retorted.

"She will be able to demonstrate her power to us, also she seems rather close to those two arrancar. Maybe they'll agree to tell us a thing or two," the gentle 4th captain spoke sternly.

"Fine, only just this once. And prepare to say your farewells," he said, storming out, Renji followed quickly behind.

Zezuri became even more distraught and cried into her hands. he then felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Come, we have no time to waste with tears," Unohana said gently.

* * *

Toshiro Hitsugaya couldn't believe he had made it out of the fight with his life. It was almost as unbelievable as Soi-Fon's aid. Between the two captains and the substitute, the three Shinigami had been able to drive back the pale-faced Espada he had struggled against.

Yet one thing that was even more unbelievable than these prior events were the words that had been hastily scrawled on a piece of parchment and left for him on his desk.

"MASUMOTO!" he yelled.

* * *

Soi-Fon had just returned to her division to find the Fourth Captain also arriving with Renji none other than the shinigami captive walking alongside them. Inwardly, she sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to rest or attend to her own wounds until she cleaned up whatever mess had just arrived.

"Good evening, Soi-Fon," Unohana greeting was polite, but her deep brown eyes suggested it was only a front.

"Can I help you?"

"As I hear, you've brought back some prisoners that are in need of medical attention. May we come in?"

Exactly what she'd expected to hear, "Does it have to be right now? It's the middle of the night."

Zezuri opened her mouth to say something, but the Fourth Captain spoke first as the calm smile left her face, "I wouldn't have come if this weren't urgent."

"Very well, this way," Soi-Fon strode off leading the way down into the dungeons of the second division.

After passing through so many different halls, Zezuri was sure they were not going to make it in time. She was beginning to despair when the Second Captain stopped in front of a large wooden door. "They're in here," she spoke and stood aside.

As Unohana opened the door, Zezuri could suddenly detect Grimmjow's presence. She held back the urge to call out and run to him as she followed the two shinigami into another dark stone hallway. It was only when they stood in front of the metal bars did she sense her friend's almost non-existent reiatsu.

"AIRI!" she screamed.

The captain of fourth let out a gasp, while Renji cringed at the sight of the female arrancar.

Soi-Fon had followed the group in and immediately called for the guard. She had a reputation to be rather cruel and heartless, but even this put a sour taste in her mouth. Words would be had with those who'd left the prisoner like this.

Unohana looked to the young girl standing next to her. Tears streamed down the brunette's face, it was clear to the captain that she cared very much about the two arrancar. As the guard scurried over and began to unlock the door, the captain spoke, "Why don't you let me take care of the girl? You see to your other friend."

Zezuri hesitated, her instincts told her that Airi was top priority, but she did have to admit to herself that she wasn't sure she could heal her friend's wounds fast enough. When the door was opened the two women rushed in.

"Z-zezuri?" asked Grimmjow, stunned. He was sure he would never see her again.

"I came to help you!" she exclaimed kneeling down by his side, "Let me heal you."

"I'll be fine," he tried to shrug her off. Now that he had been captured by the Shinigami, he knew the end was close. Even the brief moment of relief he'd felt when he'd first seen Zezuri faded quickly as he knew it would only be a matter of time before they'd do away with him. But Zezuri persisted and soon a healing light emitted from her hands and the Espada felt the pain receded as his cuts and bruises healed.

After assessing all the damage Airi had sustained, Unohana was beginning a high level spell to hopefully stabilize the girl before she slipped out of life altogether. Grimmjow and Zezuri watched the captain work her kido with a subtle confidence. They knew then if she wasn't able to save Airi right here and now, nothing would.

Minutes passed before Unohana stood up from her patient's side, "She'll make it, but she has a long way to go for recovery."

Zezuri let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. This was good news, she felt so relieved now. Her friends would be okay after all. Exhaustion set in and she slumped down to the floor.

Grimmjow caught her in alarm.

"Don't worry," Unohana spoke, as she lifted Zezuri up and guided her to Renji who was waiting outside the cell, "It's just a case of exhaustion, she just needs some sleep," she made to leave the cell.

"Shinigami," called Grimmjow.

The captain looked over her shoulder.

"Make sure you take care of her," he looked down at the floor and was silent.

Unohana smiled, "Of course." And she shut the door behind her.

The sky to the East was beginning to lighten as Soi-Fon lead Unohana and Renji, carrying a sound asleep Zezuri, out of the dungeons. As they reached the front gate to the Second division, four figures stood waiting for them.

"General-captain Yamamoto? Sir? What can I help you with?" asked Soi-Fon wondering if she'd ever get a moment to herself.

"Renji, you may leave with the girl," the elderly man dismissed the red-headed lieutenant before he spoke to the remaining group, "I'm here because of a strange report these two have made," he indicated two of his companions; Rangiku and Hanataro. "They claim they were charged with the duty of protecting the female arrancar you have in your dungeons. They were also quite concerned with her well-being as well, but I will assume that Retsu has taken care of that," he looked up at Unohana.

She nodded.

"Yes, I have the arrancar you speak of. What of it?" Soi-Fon tried to keep the annoyance out of her voice while she addressed the General.

"Tenth Division requests her transfer to their custody."

This was unexpected. Soi-Fon looked at the fourth member of the group, Hitsugaya. His face was grave, almost as if he didn't want to be here any more than she did. "Is that so, Hitsugaya?" she asked him.

He nodded, "My lieutenant is very adamant on this for some reason. And I am sure she is not spelled. Nor is Yamada."

"Very well then. Get her and then get out of my sight," Talking down to other captains was the norm for her. Today she would have loved to chase them off sooner, but the General's presence required her to maintain some manners. Grumbling inwardly, she led everyone back down to the dungeons.

* * *

Zezuri felt as if she had been sleeping for days as she crawled out of the shiki futon she had been resting on. She could barely remember where she was, by the looks of the sun creeping through the door, she almost thought she was in Karakura town again. It had been a long time since the brunette had seen the true sun. But then again, was it real? After all she was in the shinigami's world now, and nothing seemed like reality anymore.

Thinking through the events of the day before, she assured herself that Airi and Grimmjow were alright, but for how long? She scurried towards the door but ran into the red headed shinigami.

"Hey! Watch it!" he said gruffly.

Zezuri was not startled, as she was getting used to these kinds of surprises. "I need to get back to 2nd division's holding cell!" she managed to blurt out.

"Are you crazy? Besides, one of them has been moved to 10th division!" Renji informed her.

"Which one?"

"I dunno, that female arran- Hey!" he noticed Zezuri was darting past him to the door outside. "What's the matter with you?" he blocked her exit before she could reach it.

"Stop getting in my way!" she demanded.

"What do you think you can possibly do? Why are you so worked up about them anyway!" Renji was in a state of confusion and anger.

"They're my friends. I knew Airi before she was turned into an Arrancar! I won't let you kill them!"

"No way! I don't take orders from you!" the shinigami spat.

"You're no better than Aizen for holding me here! So stop pushing me around and get out of the way!" she said, having enough.

Renji finally had nothing to say, he really didn't understand what she was saying or what she had been through.

"Look maybe whatever Aizen did was unfair, but I can't let you go do whatever you want!" he exclaimed.

"What is going on here?" Captain Kuchiki asked sternly, entering the room.

"You! You can help me!" she said frantically.

"What makes you think I'd help you? You worked for a traitor. No one here will assist or trust you," he said with a not so pleased face.

Suddenly there was another presence behind the doors. "Come in Soi-Fon." Byakuya's eyes narrowed even more as the doors slid open.

"The Captain General requires the girl to come to 2nd division for questioning," she said as Byakuya could of cared less as long as he did not have to deal with the captive any longer. "Byakuya, your appearance is also necessary."

"I have more important matters to attend to, Renji shall go in my place as 6th division's witness," he said, leaving the room.

"Great..." Renji rolled his eyes.

"Hmph, very well. Follow me you two," Soi Fon demanded and flash stepped away.

"Come here." said Renji grabbing Zezuri by the waist and flash stepping as well.

They appeared quickly at the second division's quarters, as Soifon lead them down to a basement area. Most of the captains were there, General Captain Yamamoto standing out the most with the greatest spiritual pressure. Zezuri shook as all their eyes were on her.

"Sit here." Soifon showed her a chair in the middle of the room.

The brunette sat quickly as Renji joined his comrades on the other side of the room. Zezuri couldn't bring herself to look at anyone and gazed at the floor.

"Girl, were you kidnapped by Aizen?" Yamamoto boomed.

"Y-yes. I was at school and-"

"I do not need to know how. Kurosaki's report of Aizen in Karakura town that day, explains enough. Now, what did he need you, a simple girl, for?"

"W-well, at first he wouldn't say. But it became clear when he had us looking for the shards." she tried to explain.

"So why did he need the two of you?" the ancient man seemed to be looking into her soul.

"I-I guess only one of us could sense the shards. But they turned Airi into a Arrancar! They were always testing us like lab rats!" she started to become angry.

"I see, I was unaware that he was capable of such a feat. Do you know why you can sense the shards?"

"I don't know... But my body seems to react unusually when I am near them..." the night when she touched the shard was still a blur to her.

Yamamoto seemed to whisper something in Soifon' ear that moment, she nodded.

"Bring in the other!" she ordered a nearby shinigami. Grimmjow was brought in as he was tied with numerous ropes that could hold the strongest of hollows. Zezuri whirled around in her seat, relieved he was still alright.

"Where's Airi?" she then asked.

"She is still recovering," the 2nd captain said, as Grimmjow was brought to the center of the room as well.

Zezuri felt as if her heart would pound out of her chest as she looked at her Espada. He seemed tired, they must of been giving him a hard time as he looked to have no fight left in him, "Grimm..." she finally spoke.

"Hey there..." he gave a small smile. But he looked back to the Shinigami captains staring at them with a suspicious gaze.

"Any last words before your execution?" Soifon said, pushing him down to his knees.

"WHAT!" Zezuri shrieked.

"Silence, girl!" Yamamoto summoned some of Soifon's Stealth Force to restrain the her.

"Let me go!" she struggled.

Soifon stood over the Espada, ready to strike a deathblow "Die!" but as Zezuri watched in horror, her spiritual pressure rose along with an unseen force, blowing away the shinigami that held her. Her eyes glowed as she began to fire energy at Soifon, taking her out with one blast.

Yamamoto watched with silent interest as the other Captains waited for him to give orders to restrain the girl. She was going out of control, her spiritual pressure was becoming heavier and heavier.

Grimmjow broke free of his restraints with all of his strength. He tried to make his way over to the girl, but the pressure was very strong. The Espada still continued towards her, even though it tore at his flesh and clothing.

Zezuri was not herself anymore and she did not recognize friend from foe as she fired energy at anyone who got near her. Her transparent eyes locked on the blue haired arrancar who was inching inching her, energy formed into her hands.

"Zezuri, enough! It's me!" he tried to call back the Zezuri he knew. The girl came toward him and placed her hand of energy on his head, ready to kill him at point blank range.

"Damn it! This isn't you!" The crowd of shinigamis watched as Grimmjow grabbed her arm and tried to remove it from his head, but her strength had also grown.

Grimmjow managed to stand, still covered in his own blood, with Zezuri's hand now around his neck. "C'mon you know I..." a dire expression was still on his face, but he smiled a little as he looked at the girl ready to kill him. "...I can't..." before he finished, he leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips just as she was ready to implode him with energy. "It's gonna be alright now..." he whispered as her grip on his neck loosened.

The spiritual pressure in the room began to go down, as Zezuri's eyes turned back to normal. She looked back at the Espada, her face very shocked and very red. "I-I...Ummm..." she didn't know what to say.

"You're back..." he sighed with relief. He thought it was really over for him a few minutes ago. "Don't make me have to kill you."

"Y-you're hurt!" she exclaimed, already trying to heal him.

"Don't worry about it..." he chuckled, but he was also very exhausted. She quickly embraced him as he noticed everyone was watching them.

Their reunion was short lived as Yamamoto stepped forward. "I've seen what I needed. Take him back to his respective cell..."

"You mean, you did this to see her go out of control? You put everyone in danger..." Renji said.

"I had everything under control, lieutenant Abarai. Take her back to 6th division quarters," the General Captain of 1st division was ready to eliminate the brunette if he needed to and he had all the power to do so. Yet it was true, he had done this intentionally to observe the girl's power. Although, it was still not clear how she had obtained such power without first being sent to Soul Society.

The stealth force had already taken Grimmjow back to his cell, while Unohana healed Soifon's wounds.

"C'mon... you probably need some rest..." Renji said, beginning to feel sympathetic towards the girl.

Zezuri was stressing out as more questions popped into her head while she followed the lieutenant. Now that the Shinigami kept her like prisoner, she worried for herself, but even more so for Airi and Grimmjow. Renji led her back to 6th division dorms as night began to fall.

He slid open the doors to her new room, which only contained a futon, which was way more comfortable than what she had slept on in Las Noches.

"Oh, you've been delivered new clothing. It's just a simple yukata, but I don't know if you've worn one before," Renji said, handing her the folded outfit.

"Thank you..." she said quietly as Renji exited, sliding the paper door shut behind him.

Looking at her tattered white uniform that has seen one too many battles, the girl decided to change right away. She had a somewhat difficult time putting on the yukata but managed to get it together without looking foolish. It was navy blue, with tiny white paper cranes and a crimson obi. She unclipped her hair and twisted it up into a ponytail, tied with a small ribbon. She placed her hair clip that she'd always worn, into her yukata skeeve for the time being.

The days spent at Las Noches seemed like distant memories now as Zezuri looked at her new self in the mirror. She raised her hand to her face and touched her lips with the tips of her fingers. So much was on her mind that she'd almost forgot how Grimmjow had kissed her. As the memory replayed in slow motion in her mind her face turned a slight shade of red. Yet, she couldn't help wondering if it meant more than just a means to stop her. But this made it more difficult for her to bear the thought of losing him now.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! _

_Anyways, Chev contacted me concerning the plot yesterday so, I would expect the next chapter to be moving shortly. We're only up to 1,500 words at the moment... sooo... we need to double that before I'll post. Hopefully, we'll make it by the end of the week, but since school has started for Chev now... it might not. In any rate, you'll see it as soon as it's finished. Bonus, any suggestions could possibly be incorporated if you wish to try and influence us. :D -Airumel  
_


	16. Searching

_Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait! Chev and I have been a little busy with school and field work and stuff... But, here's chapter 16! I literally just finished writing that last bit, hope you enjoy! And just so you know, this chapter starts a few days after the last one ends. -Airumel (9/12/12)_

* * *

**-Chapter 16-**

Pain was the first thing Airi felt. It hurt to think, it hurt to breathe, it hurt just for her heart to beat. She had given up on living, but something, an unfamiliar, yet gentle power had blocked her way out.

Someone wanted her to live.

This thought alone recharged her will to survive. Struggling with all her might, she forced her eyes open and almost cried out in the pain the dim light of the room brought.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she found herself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. Polished wooden beams stretched from one side to the other; clearly this was not anywhere in Las Noches. Where am I? She wondered.

Muffled footsteps came down the hallway. Two sets, Airi counted while still exploring the ceiling with her eyes, as pain prevented further movement.

The door slid open.

"S-she's awake!" exclaimed a nervous young male voice. The two sets of footsteps made their way to the side of her bed and peered down at the captive arrancar.

Alarm seized Airi as she immediately recognized one of the black-clad figures as the last person she remembered fighting.

"Calm down," she spoke, "We're not here to harm you. Honestly, you're lucky to be alive." Matsumoto's words were tinged with an inhospitable tone, as much as she believed saving the girl had been the right thing to do, she still wasn't sure why she'd done it.

"You... we fought... I'm... glad... you're... okay..." Airi spoke slowly, testing her voice against the pain.

Disbelief temporarily crossed the lieutenant's face, "Why? You are my enemy! That's what happens in a fight."

"I... didn't... I'm... not..." Airi struggled for the right words, "I don't... want... to hurt... anyone..."

The words sounded true enough, maybe her hunch about this girl was a little more founded after all. She'd heard the report from Rukia about Kurosaki's encounter with her. Apparently the arrancar resembled someone he knew at school.

"Where... am... I?" the arrancar asked.

"Tenth Division's central building. Welcome to the Seireitei," the lieutenant answered sarcastically with a hint of sadness. She wasn't sure what would become of the wounded girl when she recovered, "I'm the second in command here, Rangiku Matsumoto."

"A-and I-I'm Y-yamada! Hanataro Yamada!" the younger shinigami abruptly introduced himself, "B-but I'm from F-fourth division..." his voice trailed off into a murmur as he fidgeted with the strap of a bag slung over his shoulder.

"I'm... Airi... Citnalta..." Airi introduced herself weakly, "It's nice... to meet you... out of battle..."

The lieutenant looked at Hanataro and back at the girl, "He saved you... well, actually, he saved both of us."

Hanataro looked away, embarrassed by the lieutenant's praise.

"What... about... Z...Zezuri?" Airi asked beginning to fade back into sleep. She was exhausted and amazed that something as simple as a conversation could be this hard to carry on.

"She's in the Sixth Division, being held for questioning and observation," replied Matsumoto matter-of-factly.

Airi willed herself to keep talking, "She's... okay? Right?"

"Yes. The girl is in much better shape than you are. We took her without too much of a fight."

The arrancar didn't respond. She'd fallen asleep with the faint hint of a smile on her face.

The two shinigami looked at each other; they needed to report this to the General right away.

* * *

Several days had passed since the last incident as Zezuri sat on the polished wooden porch. She hadn't heard anything about Grimmjow or Airi and was beginning to worry. A soft breeze brushed by her but she didn't seem fazed by it as she continued to look in the distance.

"Hey, I've been looking for you! I thought you left without an escort." Renji said interrupting her privacy.

"No... I already know it's mandatory for someone like me to always be watched..." she said, slightly bitter.

Renji shifted his eyes away from her with guilt. "Well you can ask to go somewhere, I just can't have you wandering around alone. Not all the shinigami around here are all sure of your intentions to your presence," he warned.

"Hm, in that case I want to go see Airi," the brunette said.

"Yeah right," the red-headed lieutenant sighed, "Except even I don't have permission to go there."

Zezuri remained silent and went back to staring at the far wall across the grassy courtyard. She'd spent the last few days recovering from her last episode of whatever kept happening to her. At first she had been waiting for an order to be issued for her own death, but as time passed, she found nothing of the sort to have happened. Somehow, she found herself wondering about it nonetheless.

Renji looked down at the seated girl. A gentle breeze ruffled her hair. He wasn't sure what to make of the girl. She seemed harmless, but after her display of uncontrollable power, he wasn't sure about that. Yet, at the moment, the captains hadn't decided what to do about her. Capturing her alive hadn't been anticipated. Nor had the capture of the arrancar been on the list. Then again, in the past months since Aizen had shown his true colors, nothing had been as Renji, or anyone for that matter, had imagined.

"Will they... what's... what's going to happen to me?" she stuttered, too scared to ask out right, but she needed some sort of reassurance.

"Huh?" Renji's brown eyes widened, that's what she'd been thinking about... "Well... I can't say for sure, but I'd bet on two things."

Zezuri gulped and looked up at Renji expectantly.

Knowing the girl was concerned, and rightfully so, the lieutenant seated himself next to her, "One, they'll try to find a way to get rid of your powers."

"Oh..." Zezuri looked down at her hands folded in her lap. It wasn't as bad as she'd thought, but... she knew she'd miss having healing powers... and then she'd really feel powerless to help. After all, Airi and Grimmjow needed her still.

Black robes swished as Renji put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "But, on the other hand, they might decide to trust you with your powers and maybe teach you to control them."

"REALLY?!" Zezuri looked up, hope restored.

"Well, yeah. You wouldn't be the first who couldn't control your powers," he laughed nervously.

"You... can't?" asked Zezuri, curious.

"Well, I can... but when it comes to kido..." he paused and looked to the sky as if the words would be written above for him, "I lack finesse..."

Zezuri laughed, a small smile crossed her face. Renji's defense was so modest!

"Hey!" he shouted indignantly, "I'm not the only one!"

Struggling to contain another laugh, she apologized. "I'm sorry, just... everyone's always been so much more talented than me," she watched as a gust swept across the long grass of the courtyard. "I've always felt like the weakest link. I don't know what's happening to me and I can't control it. Just knowing that struggling with power is normal for someone like you... it's somehow comforting," she smiled at the red haired man.

Renji smiled back, he was really starting to like this girl now that she was opening up. "Maybe I can put in a word for you with the captain," clearly this girl was just a lost soul. She needed a bit of guidance was all. Hoping he wasn't just biased from being the one responsible for her, he made a mental note to report this side of the girl to Kuchiki-taicho as soon as he could.

"Really? You'd do something like that for me?"

"Sure, I at least don't think you're a threat. And you kind of remind me of someone..." he trailed off lost in thought about a certain childhood friend of his.

Zezuri smiled but didn't pry as she wondered who he was thinking of.

* * *

Three days.

It had taken three whole days to track down their hideout, but here he was. Urahara stood in front of a sprawling warehouse he'd passed without noticing countless times. The spell work was impressive, if Tessai hadn't pointed it out he never would have found it.

"Well, we found it, what now?" asked the black cat sitting at his clogged feet.

"We knock!" Urahara chuckled, poking the barrier with the end of his walking cane. "YOO HOO! SHINJI! ANYBODY HOME?!"

A small projectile made impact with the striped hat upon the blonde man's head, "Go away!" a voice accompanied the impact.

The cat sighed, "Well, that's good ol' Hiyori for you."

Urahara picked up a sandal from the ground, "You know, I'm not giving this baaackk~" he taunted swirling it around on his finger.

"Damn it!"

In a slightly more serious tone, Kisuke addressed his attacker, "You've been in hiding because of Aizen's forces nearby, I would assume?"

No response came.

"Well, that's what I'm here about. Please, I need to speak with Shinji," reasoning with his former lieutenant had never exactly worked in the past, but there was no choice here.

"Ya? Well too bad! He's not here!"

"Would you at least tell him that we came?"

"I ain't telling him anything from you! Rotten loser!"

Urahara sighed, a lot depended on this.

"Would you tell him that I came?" asked the cat.

The answer came after a moment of silence, "Fine, I'll let him know that a fool walking his cat stopped by!"

"Thank you, Hiyori, that would work just as well," the cat's deep voice was sincere, "Come, Kisuke, we can't do anything more right now."

* * *

The setting sun cast long shadows across the courtyard when Byakuya Kuchiki returned from a lengthy captain's meeting.

Much had been discussed on every topic from general business to Zezuri, to the arrancars. Then again, they'd been discussing relatively the same topics over the past few days. But today had been different. Ranjiku Matsumoto, even though only a lieutenant had given a surprising report: the arrancar had woken up and had been concerned about everyone's welfare but her own. This development had spurred more interest in the direction of the girl under his own charge. Maybe she hadn't been lying about not working for Aizen. Yet he was still not convinced. Letting his guard down was dangerous and anyone who hadn't learned that lesson from Aizen's betrayal was a fool.

Silently he made his way through the barracks to his spacious office.

Before he even slid open the door, he sensed something was different. Where was his lieutenant scrambling with some long overdue paperwork? He wondered as he entered.

On his desk were neat stacks of paper. All of the reports Renji had been behind on were complete and up to date. As he silently marveled over the order that had been restored to his division, a sealed scroll caught his eye, placed carefully on the middle of his hand-carved mahogany desk. He broke the seal and opened the parchment, clearly this was the work of Renji, his chicken-scratch handwriting was undeniable. Intrigued, he read through it once, carefully, and then a second time, just to be sure. It seemed Renji had come to the same conclusions as he had. The girl was not Aizen's servant, but was this really proof? He glanced at a photograph on his desk, looking to it for answers.

* * *

Zezuri was out of her mind with boredom. Sitting on the well-polished covered porch of the Sixth division, she gazed dully at her surroundings. The high stone walls that surrounded the division seemed even more restricting than the distant memories of Las Noches's walls. At least she'd had someone to talk to back then. Grimmjow... Airi... what had become of them? It'd been close to a week now since they'd been brought here and yet no news other than Renji's assurance that Airi was at the very least, alive, had reached her. She knew there were things she was not being told, but then again, it seemed that the lieutenant captain didn't know much else either.

Judging by the sun's position, Zezuri gathered that it was around noon. Renji wouldn't be back for another few hours still. This information made her even more fidgety. She had to find something to do. Part of her wanted to try out her powers again, but the fear of going out of control was enough to quell the temptation.  
Gazing around the courtyard slowly, a light breeze swept through the grass. Her eyes followed the sweeping motion until it ended under a tree by a far wall. It was an old tree judging by it's wide girth and thick branches. An idea suddenly popped into the girl's head. Rising to her feet, she left the covered porch that ran around the division and strode out to get a better look.

Upon closer inspection, the tree was massive. She hadn't realized it had been so far out despite her many aimless walks through the courtyard. Tall and sturdy, the large oak had grown right up alongside the wall. An added bonus to the situation; the branches were very low to the ground so climbing up into them was a rather easy process. She'd climbed very few trees during her childhood and it showed in her furtive scramble up the tree as a few smaller branches snapped under her weight.

A few times she would glance over her shoulder back to the division to see if anyone had noticed her yet. Somehow, no one had missed her sitting bored on various parts of the veranda. Possibly because she was always so quiet and lost in her thoughts lately.

Carefully, she made her way out onto a branch that touched the top of the wall. Knowing that if she looked down she would lose all of the courage she'd mustered just to attempt this escape, Zezuri focused on the tiled top of the wall in front of her.

Suddenly she lost her balance as her foot slipped. Trying not to make a sound, she held her breath as she clung to the branch and tried to lift herself up with the little strength she had in her arms. It was pure determination that gotten her back onto the branch.

As a small bead of sweat trickled down her forehead. Quickly, she made her way to the wall, but was a little dismayed as there seemed to be no other way over the wall but to jump. She knew if she fell, she would most certainly injure herself. Yet there was little time to think as she worried her absence may have been noticed by now. Cautiously with all the haste she would allow, the girl positioned herself on the edge of the wall and clutched the edge with her hands, letting herself dangle on the wall. Now she had no other choice but to drop, but the ground seemed so far away.

Her hands were so moist with sweat and trembling with fatigue that she eventually lost her grip and fell to the ground. Zezuri landed on her feet, luckily, but pain surged up through her right leg.  
"Shoot... I've sprained my ankle..." she thought bitterly, biting her tongue so she would not cry out in pain.

Closing her eyes and pushing the pain out of her mind, she tried to focus on where Renji had told her they were keeping Airi. She needed to see if she was as okay as the lieutenant had claimed she was.

"Squad 10... that was it I think he said... Oh, what's the use? I have no idea where to go from here..." she muttered quietly. A memory suddenly reminded her of another option: the Shinigami she'd met upon her capture had mentioned something about sensing spiritual pressure. "Just how on Earth do they do that?" She tried to picture Airi in her head, all of the memories they'd had together. This was a rather easy task as the two had been friends since they'd met when Zezuri's family had moved into Airi's neighborhood. As the brunette focused on her memories, she felt something pull her mind in a solid direction, but as she tried to focus in on it, the feeling remained very faint.

"She must be so weak... I can barely feel her..." the brunette tried to wander in the direction of her friend, but the pain in her ankle quickly became unbearable. "I can't let this slow me down. They'll catch me soon, I have to hurry..."

Her thoughts always turned to Grimmjow, she hoped he wasn't hurt from when she lost control. A good part of her was dying to see him. It was like a fountain that kept welling up inside her, and wouldn't stop. She felt her cheeks become red hot as she thought of the kiss. It was all so confusing! If only she could confirm how he truly felt. But he was an Espada and she was clearly a Shinigami. This thought saddened her and left her more bewildered. Quickly, shoved these thoughts out of her mind and resumed her focus on the task at hand.

* * *

At the same moment, another soul was searching for someone he had also been unable to find.

Super frustrated and quite annoyed with his target's antics, Ichigo Kurosaki forcibly slid open the doors of Urahara Shoten to find that once again, the shop was empty. A scowl crept onto his face. Ever since Soul Society had captured the two transfer students the shopkeeper had disappeared into thin air. However, the ex-captain had left a note for his comrade of which Ichigo had found on the shop's counter the first time he had come in looking for him.

"You said a week!" he yelled into the silent space.

His words hung in the dusty air for a few seconds as Ichigo let out a sigh. This was hopeless. He knew those two girls; he remembered them clearly from the first few days of the summer semester. Although he hadn't paid them much attention until he'd tripped over the brunette in the hallway, he had been shocked when it was announced a few days later that they had died of food poisoning. Why he hadn't connected it to Aizen's appearance in his school was unknown. Yet when he contacted Soul Society, no one had believed him. Mayuri, the creepy captain of the 12th division had been rather insistent that if indeed Aizen had set foot with a large group of arrancar, they would have known.

Only Urahara had seemed the slightest bit concerned, but it was hard to tell how the hat-wearing shinigami's mind worked. He'd tried to set the young man's mind at ease on the topic, and had, until now. Ichigo needed the truth.

Silently, he admitted that waiting any longer would be useless. Clearly Urahara didn't want to be found just yet. Just as he was about to turn around he heard the door slide around.

"What the hell took you-" started Ichigo.

"Kurosaki-kun! Just the person I was hoping to see!" shouted a voice the young man hadn't been expecting to hear.

"Shinji?" Ichigo turned to face the tall blonde man. As usual, a large grin shone on the Vizard's face.

"Kisuke told me I'd find you here."

"Huh?" Ichigo recalled the note. It had only said to show up at the store today. This must have been what he meant, but why all the secrecy?

"There's a storm brewing, didn't ya hear? We've gotta make preparations!"

Ichigo's face maintained its confused look.

"Well, ya coming or not?" Shinji started to leave.

"Does this have anything to do with the two girls from my school?"

"Only one way to find out!" called the Vizard over his shoulder as he walked on the well swept stone path away from Urahara Shoten.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! I'm not sure when you'll see the next chapter, but hopefully soon! :) We're in a bit of a slow spot so please bear with us. (I'd love suggestions if anyone has them) Later! -Airumel_


	17. Nightmares

_We're still alive! My apologies everyone for the late update. I forgot to tell Chev it was her turn for a week and then we both got really busy and had some really bad cases of writer's block. Then again... it's really hard to write stuff when your character is bed-ridden! No miraculous recovery for Airi-chan. __(We both write both of the girls' parts, but I wonder if anyone can tell when we switch writers?) __ Anyways, without further delay, here is chapter 17! -Airumel (10/13/12)_

* * *

**-Chapter 17-**

Zezuri continued to sneak through the streets of the Soul Society, but it was proving very difficult with the slight limp she maintained after her fall.

Suddenly she heard two Shinigami approaching. She scurried around, trying to find a place to hide, but the streets were completely empty of any obvious hiding places.

"Hey, who are you?" one of the Shinigami asked.

"I-I um... well..." Zezuri stuttered.

"Aren't you that girl the 6th squad has been keeping? Trying to escape back to Aizen?" the other questioned eagerly.

"N-no..." she had almost fallen backwards trying to escape, but had bumped into the 6th squad lieutenant.

"Sorry, I forgot where I left you," he said, putting a hand on Zezuri's shoulder.

"A-Abarai Fuku-taicho!" the two Shinigami bowed in respect to their superior.

"Don't you two have some work to do?" the lieutenant asked sternly.

"Yes Sir!" they abruptly excused themselves.

Zezuri looked up at the lieutenant with relief and found him looking down at her with disappointment and irritation.

"What do you think you are doing out here? If you wanted to go somewhere, you could've ask..." he scolded.

"S-sorry... I don't know what I was thinking..." the brunette looked away sadly, "I just wanted to see Airi."

"Don't get all depressed on me again. I'm sure you'll see her again soon. Now c'mon, I have to get you back before I get into trouble," Renji took her by the hand and guided her gently before she stumbled to the ground, "W-what's the matter?"

"M-my ankle..." she muttered, no longer able to hold back the tears. "I sprained it trying to get over the wall..."

"You mean you climbed over the wall!?" Renji said surprised as she nodded in pain, "Couldn't you take care of that yourself?"

"I was so scared that I didn't think about that..." she remembered she had more painful experiences back in Hueco Mundo, but that still didn't stop the throbbing in her ankle.

"Well we better not do it here. You almost caused a scene in public already," he carefully picked up the brunette girl in his arms.

Zezuri's face proceeded to turn bright red, "I-I can walk, don't worry about me..." she said, turning her head away. "Just flash step us back already," she said when Renji made no move to put her down.

"I don't get you; you wanted out and now you're in a hurry to get back? It's not like you're heavy or anything. I can walk so you can enjoy being out for a while," he tried to restrain the now struggling girl.

Zezuri gave up and let Renji carry her down the street. He moved at a slow pace, careful not to jostle the injured girl too much. As the squad six barracks came into view, Zezuri realized just how short her journey had been.

* * *

Someone was coming.

Airi's eyes fluttered open. Taking in her surroundings, or more of recognizing the ceiling, she remembered where she was.

A familiar presence was growing nearer slowly.

Fighting with all her might, Airi struggled to push herself up. Try as she would, she couldn't muster enough strength to do more than clench her fists. At least that was an improvement.

With a sigh, Airi relaxed her muscles and focused on the presence she was sensing. It felt familiar, but she was confused why all of a sudden she could sense other people around. Zezuri? She wondered sensing her friend nearby. Again, she forced herself to rise. This time she found herself sitting up, briefly before a wave of nausea overtook her.

"H-hey! D-don't push yourself!" a nervous voice yelled urgently from within the room.

Airi looked over to the speaker; it was Hanataro, who had been seated in a chair by the door.

"P-please, j-just don't move too much, your wounds still haven't healed fully!" he pleaded the arrancar. Fear was written across his face; the arrancar's presence unnerved him.

Shakely, Airi put a hand to her forehead, ignoring Hanataro's advice. Silently, she wondered if this was what a hangover felt like, and then chuckled inwardly for having such an outrageous thought. The moment of mirth was short lived as her fingers brushed the mask fragments in her hair.

Catching the hint of a smile on his ward's face, Hanataro relaxed his guard a little. "H-how are you feeling?"

A dark eyebrow shot up underneath Airi's blonde bangs, "Hard to say, better, I suppose."

"T-that's a relief. Y-you've been out for most of the week."

"A week!?" exclaimed Airi, she was still wearing her bloodstained and battle torn outfit after all, "And I still feel this bad? Just what happened to me? I remember telling Zezuri to run... and fighting that other Shinigami, but that's it before I woke up here."

"I can tell you," a stern voice came from the doorway, "But I'm not sure you want to hear it."

"Hitsugaya-taicho!" Hanataro rose to his feet and gave a short bow to the captain.

"There's no need for that Yamada. You've been here all week, after all."

"Y-yes, sir!" the healer gave another bow, instantly forgetting his instructions to be less formal.

The captain entered the room and stood at the foot of the arrancar's bed. His turquoise gaze was intense and strangely familiar, yet no matter how hard she thought about it, Airi could not place where she'd seen him before.

"The woman you fought, Matsumoto, is my vice captain," he began, "She had been wounded her quite badly by the time I stepped in. An arrancar with a release resembling a bird attacked both of us. That, if I'm not mistaken, was you."

Airi listened silently; although she couldn't remember any of this personally, strange memories of an overwhelming power were bubbling to the surface of her mind.

"You managed to take out Matsumoto and despite any wounds we inflicted, showed no signs of stopping. My plan at that point was to let you burn yourself out, but another arrancar stepped in."

A shiver went down Airi's back knowing who he meant.

"I have no doubt this was an Espada. His power dwarfed everyone else's. I was sure it was over for me, even if you had followed his orders to retreat I couldn't hope to match his power. I only survived because you turned your blade on him."

"I did what!?" the words burst from the girl's mouth before she could stop them. Was it just her imagination, or had she sounded just slightly indignant about attacking her master?

"Yes, you attacked him full on."

"But... how?"

A puzzled look crossed the captain's face, "I'm afraid I don't follow; you were manic, I don't think you knew what you were doing at all."

"No, I didn't," Airi admitted, "But I shouldn't have been able to attack him, let alone ignore his orders," she massaged her forehead with her fingers; this was making her headache even worse.

"Why would that be?"

"I'm Ulquiorra's fraccion."

Eyes wide with surprise, Hitsugaya managed to keep his jaw from dropping, unlike the terrified healer sitting in the doorway, mouth agape. This was certainly news.

"What happened when I attacked him?" eagerness pushed its way into Airi's tone. She had to know.

"You landed your attack and he cut you down in one attack."

The arrancar was silent. She'd defied her master. Attacked him even. How? She felt sicker than ever and laid back down. What was going on? Wasn't she bound to follow all orders without questioning them? What had changed?

* * *

Grimmjow sat in his musty cell with nothing on his mind. He wasn't one to ponder very often, but he couldn't deny how unbelievably bored he was. Every time the cell block gaurd wandered by, he would imagine taking his chances and blowing the shinigami to smithereens. As he was know fool, Grimmjow realize that since he was held in the Soul Society, he had little options of surviving if he managed to escape. He was powerful, but not even Ulquiorra could fight his way out of this operation.

His thoughts of escape turned into thoughts of the other two captives. Staring at the floor where he'd last seen her, the Espada wondered how Ulquiorra's fraccion holding up; last he'd seen her she was in horrible shape. Then his thoughts shifted to the subject he had on lockdown: the brunette, he wouldn't even let himself think her name. Something about how she made him feel scared him; but then again he didn't know what to think of that one. He wondered what caused him to do what he did to save her from losing control. Grimmjow was sure that if it came down to it, he could destroy her, but the thought of losing her as well was unbearable.

The espada shook his head, who was he to feel this way, especially for a girl who was now a shinigami? Then he remembered Aizen had mentioned something and that girl seemed to be at the center of his plans. Aizen wouldn't let her sit peacefully in the Soul Society forever; he would return for her. Grimmjow knew he had to get out of this cell, eventually.

* * *

"Here, you should be able to heal yourself now," Renji sat Zezuri back down on the terrace of the 6th's barracks.

"Thanks..." her hand glowed as she sighed from the relief from pain.

"That's really amazing, how you can cast spells without chanting them. Normally, only an experienced shinigami can do that." the lieutenant was in clear awe of Zezuri.

"It's nothing really. I don't know many other spells other than healing and a few energy blasts. I am horrible at anything offensive..."

"Well hey, so you aren't bored all day, why don't I have someone come teach you a few moves?" he asked.

"Can't you teach me?" Zezuri looked up at him.

"Uh I told you already, that really isn't my forte..." he looked away embarrassed. "But Momo can... well maybe not, since your connection to Aizen might upset her..."

"Who is she?"

"Momo was Aizen's lieutenant before he betrayed us. She thought very highly of him and was heartbroken when he turned his back on her and left her for dead." Renji explained.

"Aizen seems to treat everyone that way..." she muttered smoothing out the skirt of her yukata as she recalled the friendly smile that usually adorned the traitor's face.

"He fooled us all," Renji put a hand on Zezuri's shoulder, "Every last captain."

A cool breeze blew across the courtyard.

"Tell you what, I'll see who else would have time to teach you a thing or two. I suspect we'll have a decision on your future shortly anyways," he flashed a reassuring smile to the girl seated next to him.

Zezuri looked up into Renji's smiling eyes, "Really?" she asked.

"Tomorrow morning," spoke Byakuya, suddenly standing behind them, "The General-captain wishes to speak with you then."

The initial feeling of relief that had filled Zezuri vanished suddenly and was replaced with the fear brought on by the memories of her last encounter with the head Shinigami.

* * *

The preparations were almost complete.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Ichigo questioned the giant portal that stood before him in the basement of the Vizard's warehouse. He had just stopped by after his classes had let out for the day to train with his newfound allies.

"What are you, STUPID? Of course it'll work!" the shortest member of the group yelled, as she stopped her work to fling a sandal at the carrot top's head. Used to random attacks from his father, Ichigo caught the projectile in one quick motion.

"It's just that... last time..." Ichigo's thoughts drifted back to his rescue of Rukia. He thoughtlessly tossed Hiyori's sandal back to her.

"It should be more reliable than Kisuke's model; Hachi improved the design of the targeting spell." Shinji took a few steps back to look at the doorway his group had spent the last few days constructing, "Though, it might not be as stable... nah, we've still got a ways to go, so don't worry about that."

Ichigo sighed in frustration. He felt responsible for the two girls. Wasn't he Karakura's protector? How did Aizen slip under his radar like that?

"What's with you and saving damsels in distress? You're sure turning out to be quite the ladies' man!" the leader of the Vizards jabbed Ichigo in the ribs with his elbow.

"It's not like that!" Ichigo protested truthfully. Okay, maybe he'd had a slight interest in Rukia, "I only met them once! I just can't believe that the Sereitei didn't believe me when I reported Aizen's appearance."

Shinji gazed up to the false blue sky painted overhead. "If it's one thing those ol' windbags are good for, it's not listening..." his voice trailed off. "And it's bitten them again and again in the behind!" he laughed after a moment of silence.

Ichigo nodded in agreement. How much would it take for the Seireitei to accept that things were not always as black and white as their uniforms?

* * *

Zezuri tossed and turned in her sleep that night. Countless dreams started and stopped with no beginning and no end. Her meeting with the Shinigami council, Airi's crumpled form, Grimmjow's hopeless expression, the pain of losing control, all flew through her mind in a furious storm. Aizen extending a friendly hand with a cup of green liquid. Szayel's laboratory with all of its equipment buzzing and whirring. Would there be no end?

"Where are you, Zezuri?" a voice came from somewhere in front of her.

It sounded so familiar, she couldn't help but be drawn to it. Running, she headed for the voice calling her.

A phone rang.

"Hello? Yes, this is the Okinami residence."

"Mom?" asked Zezuri as the living room of her childhood came into view.

"Zezuri? Yes, she's my daughter."

Zezuri crept closer, "Mom?" she called again, but the woman on the phone paid no attention. "I'm right here, Mom..."

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you are saying. She can't be- no! Not my little girl!" Zezuri's mother broke into tears.

"Mom!" the brunette choked on her own tears, "I'm not- I'm here!" Her words could not reach the weeping woman. Zezuri rushed forward at her mother as she sank to the floor, sobbing. The phone dropped from her hand.

"Hello? Ma'am?" a staticy voice on the other end called.

As Zezuri made to give her mother a hug, the scene vanished, leaving only a empty white void in its place. "N-no!" shouted the lone girl into the dead space. Tears streamed down her face and fell to the ground without a sound.

"Zezuri," a weak male voice called from behind.

"Help us..." another, higher voice pleaded.

Whirling around in her dream-state, two figures came into Zezuri's vision.

Airi and Grimmjow staggered towards their friend, both were battered and bloody, just as they had been the last time she'd seen them.

"Help us..." begged Airi reaching out toward Zezuri.

Frozen to the spot by an unknown force, Zezuri watched helplessly as her friends dissolved into dust and blew away. Horrified, she let out a scream.

"W-what's going on?!" a male voice yelled throwing open the paper door to Zezuri's room.

Zezuri stopped screaming and realized she was sitting up on her futon mattress. Clenching the sheets so tight all the blood drained from her knuckles, she tried to stop herself from shaking.

"Are you okay?" Renji, wearing only the light-weight robe he slept in, knelt beside her. His zanpaktou lay up against the wall.

"I-I-just keep seeing things... so many terrible things..." she sobbed into her sheets. "I-I'm frightened. I can't go home and I can't help anyone!"

The lieutenant gently stroked the distraught girl's hair, and gently shushed her.

Zezuri continued to cry into her sheets. "I'm so s-scared..."

Renji said nothing, having no words of comfort for a dream.

Time crept slowly as the night grew old.

At one point, no one knew what time, Zezuri finally laid back down. Renji continued to sit by her bedside as she sniffled into her pillow.

Finally, the exhausted girl shed her last tear and fell into a deep sleep.

Shifting his weight, Renji found his legs had fallen asleep from kneeling next to the girl for awhile. Sighing, he rose and picked up his zanpakuto from where it rested against the wall. Looking back at the sleeping girl, he was struck by how sad she still looked in her sleep. Like the rest of the Shinigami, he couldn't remember his past life, but imagined that was a blessing. The poor girl had been so young too, to go out and remember it... the thought made him shudder. He needed some air. Yet, he couldn't just leave Zezuri, nightmares like that didn't go away all that easily.

With his back to the hallway, he opened the door to the courtyard. As silently as he could manage, the lieutenant slid the door shut behind him.

The slightest sliver of a waning moon hung above in the starry night sky. It was a clear night and with autumn swiftly approaching, the temperature was quite chilly.

Crickets chirped a slow and soft song, being the only noise to be heard.

Stretching his arms over his head, Renji let out a yawn. It was amazing how relaxed he felt in the night air. Knowing morning would soon be arriving, he seated himself against the wall of Zezuri's room. Shutting his eyes, he too, soon slipped into a deep sleep.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Questions, comments, reviews, etc are all very much appreciated. :) Hopefully we'll have 18 up soon. It's going to be a lengthy one I think... but don't quote me on that. I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to upload it next weekend as I get to fly home for a bit. :) (I haven't been home in 3 months) Until next time! -Airumel_


	18. Reunions

_Happy Halloween from pseudo-bed ridden Airumel. Perhaps this is karma for Airi along with the dream of Aizen chasing me last night?! (I haven't had one like that in four years) Anyways, this is a rather long chapter, I had a hard time deciding where to put in the cuts. Hope you enjoy!  
_

_-Aiurmel 10/31/2012  
_

* * *

**-Chapter 18-**

Dawn came too soon for Renji, but not soon enough for Zezuri. Despite finally falling back asleep, none of her fears had been alleviated in the slightest. She had done her best not to think about home. Even back in Las Noches, it had become an unofficial subject of taboo between the girls. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Zezuri realized that maybe that hadn't been the best idea. If her bottled up emotions were causing this much distress, she could only imagine what Airi was feeling. Then again, Airi was under Ulquiorra's control and it seemed that had something to do with her ability to express any emotion. Bottom line: she needed to talk to Airi. Just knowing her friend was alive wasn't good enough.

Her thoughts wandered as she got up and dressed herself in the yukata she had left folded at the foot of her futon.

And then there was Grimmjow. Still locked up in the second division's prison. What could she do about him?

What could she do at all?

"Zezuri?" a voice spoke on the other side of the door to the hallway.

"I'm ready," she called back and slid the door open to find Captain Kuchiki waiting for her in the hallway. "G-good morning, sir!" she bowed promptly. His presence unnerved her even though she knew he meant no harm.

Wordlessly, the captain began to walk down the hall. It took Zezuri a moment to realize she was supposed to be following him; her mind was fuzzy from the lack of sleep she'd gotten the night prior.

Walking a few steps behind him, Zezuri followed Byakuya out of the barracks, through the front gates of the division and into the streets of the Seireitei. The two turned countless corners and always seemed to be climbing stairs. On one such ascent, Zezuri cast her senses, curious if she could find either of her friends. A quick glance over the shoulder from the captain broke her concentration. Did he know what she was up to? The girl's heart began to pound. The captain said nothing and did not stop leading the way. Gathering her nerves, Zezuri let out a sigh and tried not to smile. She had succeeded in finding one of them.

* * *

When Zezuri and Byakuya reached the summit of the First Division, the happiness she had discovered drained away along with the blood in her face.

The great doors of the division swung outwards for them, followed by the ornate inner doors to the meeting hall. "Wait here," Byakuya commanded in the foyer area,

"We will call for you when we are ready." He swept into the large hall, leaving Zezuri in a frightened silence.

A few more captains arrived, but said nothing to the young girl as they passed by. One, wearing a pink haori and a straw hat, gave her a reassuring wink as he passed. The doors to the meeting hall closed behind him; it seemed he was the last to show up.

Minutes dragged on at a painful rate. Zezuri tried to calm herself in anyway she could; counting the wooden planks on the floor, counting backwards from 100, even trying to listen through the inner doors. All did nothing to rein in her racing heart.

She was pacing the room when the doors finally opened for her.

"Zezuri, enter."

This was it. Fate, destiny, or whatever else. Taking in a deep breath, Zezuri tried to enter the room as confidently as she could. Holding her head up, she stared straight ahead, doing her best to ignore the large group of captains that lined her path.

"We have come to a conclusion," began the Head Captain, "You are not a danger to the Sereitei." He waited for a moment, as if expecting Zezuri to say something, but the girl was frozen in place. "However, your power does present a danger to you and anyone immediately around you. Therefore, we, the Goeti Thirteen, present you with two choices. One: we can strip you of these powers and place you with a family in the Rukongai, where you can live safely. Or two, you can be taught to control it and be placed in a division. This choice should not be taken lightly. Your powers are well beyond your grasp at the moment. You would also be in the front lines in the fight against Aizen's forces. Captains Unohana, Kyoraku, Komamura, Zaraki, and Ukitake all would be willing to work with you, should you chose this path."

Zezuri took a moment to think. "What about Airi and Grimmjow? Will I ever see them again?" she thought. This was a difficult decision that would ultimately decide her fate. "Um, may I have some time to think about this?" she asked, a little nervous.

"A decision would be highly recommended as of now since Sousuke Aizen will not wait around for you to make up your mind." the head Shinigami demanded.  
The harsh reality of her situation blew over Zezuri. These were her only options and neither seemed to hold Airi or Grimmjow in the future. But perhaps if she joined them she would have a better chance of saving them by gaining the Shinigamis' trust. Right now she was losing precious time.

"Alright, I'll...I'll become a full fledged Soul Reaper." she cringed as the words left her mouth. Agreeing to their terms left a bad taste in her mouth; it was like agreeing to help Aizen, but these people were not threatening her life.

"You sound unsure..." Byakuya spoke, noticing the girls uncertainty.

"I said I'll do it. I can help fight against Aizen if I learn to control my powers." she explained, "But I want to see the others I came here with."

"You know we are already going on a limb for you. You can't just expect us to let you do as you please." the female captain of 2nd squad hissed.

"Please, I haven't heard or seen them in days! I'm not going to do anything suspicious, I promise!" Zezuri pleaded. "I want to see both of them!"

"I see. Then we will discuss what captain you will work with after we grant you your request. This council is now dismissed!" as the head captain was the first to remove himself, the other captains followed in suit, leaving Zezuri standing alone. She stood there, in shock until a familiar presence appeared and came to stand with her, "Captain Kuchiki sent me to escort you, I heard all the details," the sixth lieutenant spoke.

"Finally... I've waited so long..." her voice shook, leading to scattered tears running down her cheeks.

Renji watched her, he still didn't understand why she wanted to save these Arrancars, but he guessed they were her friends as much as Rukia was to him, thus making their reasons the same. "Well I guess I'll escort you to their cells." he said as he stopped leaning against the wall.

"Grimmjow... he is the closest..." she said wiping her tears away.

"H-how did you know that?" Renji looked at her astonished.

"Well I kind of picked up on how to sense auras after watching the rest of you do it. It wasn't very hard," the brunette grinned.

"Oh yeah? Well... never mind..." he grumbled and continued to lead the way. The girl followed him but couldn't help but notice how strange he was acting.

* * *

They arrived shortly at the 2nd squad's holding cells, where Grimmjow was being kept. Zezuri could barely contain her excitement but at the same time disappointment crept over her; would Grimmjow return her excitement?

But there was no room for second thoughts as before she knew it, she was standing right in front of him, bars the only thing separating them. She stared at the espada who still had his back to them.

"I'll wait for you outside..." Renji said coolly as he gave them some privacy.

Zezuri glanced at him as he left and let her eyes drift to the floor, her face turning red.

"You're really here, aren't you?" the espada spoke, making the girl jump, "Don't feel like you need to take pity on me."

His words sounded harsh but she knew this was normal. "I- I, umm, A-are you okay? Are they treating you well?"

"As well as one would treat a dog..." he sighed and stood to look at her.

"I-I'm going to get you out. They gave me the choice to join them-" but the espada cut her off.

"That's great for you, but now you are my enemy! They wont let someone like me go freely just for you! Same with your friend!" his words pounded in her ears.

She began to cry again; it was just as she feared. She knew the truth of the matter, but she just wanted to pretend it wasn't true. "I-I'm sorry... I just want you to live..." she couldn't stand to look at him anymore as she felt his glare like a heatwave on her body.

"Well that's not good enough! It your own damn fault I'm even here!" Grimmjow shouted in frustration, but stopped himself when he saw how upset he was making Zezuri. Tears streamed down her face as she stared at the floor; he was breaking her heart which, in turn was breaking his. He turned away from her, overwhelmed with guilt.

Zezuri's sniffles echoed through the cells. She was so confused, but it was clear now that all of his affections were just her imagination. There was no way he felt anything for her. She had just been a job, a possession, something he could use as leverage for his own gains. Slumping to the floor, Zezuri cried into her hands silently.

"I-I'm sorry..." she started after a few minutes, "I must look so embarrassing right now... I'll leave you alone, but I won't let you die..." determination had crept back into her voice. She was about to stand up and leave until Grimmjow grabbed her hand through the bars.

"Stop apologizing... I'm the one who should be sorry for hurting you..." Grimmjow clasped her warm hands in his.

Zezuri looked up at him, her heart racing as their eyes met. "N-No... I really am just a nuisance to everyone." she could feel herself tremble.

"You look really nice in that... I can't remember seeing you in anything except your Las Noches uniform..." things were coming out of his mouth that he had no control over or clue as to why he was saying them. Zezuri's wide-eyed gaze of surprize was not helping his nerves any either.

"T-Thank you..." the brunette blushed. She couldn't help feeling like this, even if he was supposed to be her enemy. She knew it would not be so easy to be with anyone else, but she knew she was in love with the espada in front of her. "So... did you..."

"I did..." he knew she was talking about the kiss he had given her.

"Oh.. Umm.. Thank you." She felt relieved that she wasn't just dreaming.

"Is that all you're going to say?" Grimmjow chuckled.

"No! But I did want to give you this." she pulled out her old hair clip from the sleeve of her yukata and placed it in his hands. "It will be my promise to you."

Grimmjow felt childish as he took it from her but couldn't help but smile a little. "Alright, I'll give it back when I get out of here." he placed it in his pocket.

"I want to stay here forever..." she whispered.

"You will. You're a shinigami now," resentment slipped into his voice.

"No, I meant right here with you..." Zezuri held his hand tighter.

"I won't let you. You can't stay in this place for me. I promised I'll get out, then I'll take you and we'll run away." he knew it was illusions of grandeur, but the thought made him happy too.

"If only." she sighed. But she could hear footsteps of the guard approaching and he heart ached of what would happen next. "Grimmjow...I-"

"No... you don't have to say it yet. Let me hear it when I see you again..." he drew in closer to her.

"Okay... You promised remember?" taking his head in her hands she pulled him closer until their lips touched.

The espada felt ravished in the softness of her lips. Until now, he had only known the roughness and coarseness of Las Noches. He had fought his way to the top, made sure he was as powerful as he could be and had let no one stand in his way; this had made him greedy and prideful. As the guard came for Zezuri, his anger boiled, after all no one can take from the King. That was why he would not let himself die or give in to despair. He'd take Zezuri back by force if he had to.

"Your time is up." the shinigami guard said standing over them.

"I have to go see how Airi is doing now. If she is okay, then we can all be together again..." Zezuri smiled weakly as she began to stand. "I'll get both of you out so don't worry. I mean don't try and force yourself out."

"What's that supposed to mean?" despite how he felt about that, he knew she was right.

"Well I will see you soon..." she wanted to cry again as her grip loosened from his hand, but she held them back as the guard led her out.

"Hmmm..." Grimmjow continued to watch the way she had left, as if her after image still lingered. He knew that loving her would only drive him crazy being held in this cell, but it was too late for that now. He would not regret it, he decided, staring at the hairclip she had left behind.

* * *

Morning light flooded the room in the Tenth Division in which Airi was being held. The arrancar had been awake since shortly before dawn, but was still too weak to do much more than sit up. How long had she been out this time, she wondered as she watched the sunrise in silence.  
Slowly, the division became alive with the noises of its inhabitants bustling about.

Someone slide the door to her room open. "I see you're feeling better today," greeted a dark-haired woman wearing the same white robes Airi had observed only the strongest of the shinigami wearing.

"Who are you?" Airi asked the woman curiously.

"I am Retsu Unohana, Captain of the Fourth Division," she introduced herself with no hesitation, "I have been tending to your wounds since you were brought here by my subordinate, Hanataro, but this is the first time I have seen you conscious."

"O-oh!" Airi hadn't realized that more people had been involved with her recovery, "Thank you, I suppose. But, why did you save me? I'm... an... I'm not..." she struggled with the reality of her own situation.

Unohana smiled gently as she slid the door behind her, "You were brought here in such a state, how could I not?" the woman walked over to the edge of Airi's raised bed and sat in the chair beside it, "Hanataro felt you were worth saving and that was enough for me."

The arrancar noted to herself that she owed Hanataro quite a bit. He'd saved her from dying on the battlefield and from rotting in a cell, even from Ulquiorra and Las Noches, she realized. "I-I'm indebted to all of you..." she spoke softly looking out the window.

"No, we were just doing our jobs. And I don't think we were wrong to save you in the least. You don't act like the arrancar I've encountered in the past. Something is different about you."

The captain was probing for her story, Airi could sense that. Could she trust her? Looking at the captain's gentle smile and warm brown eyes Airi figured this was probably her best chance to plead her case. "I wasn't an arrancar... not even a hollow... when they took me. Zezuri and I were at school..."

Unohana patiently listened to Airi's story without interruption all the way through. Giving a soft smile, she spoke once more, "Your story matches up to what your friend told me."

"Zezuri!?" interrupted Airi, "Is she okay?!"

The Fourth Captain chuckled at the arrancar's reaction, "Yes, she's doing quite well in fact." She knew that Zezuri would be visiting shortly, but wanted to leave that as a surprize for the girl. After all, it looked like she could use something happy in her life.

Airi's smile lasted for a brief moment when it slowly faded again, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly, what would you like to know?"

"What will happen to me?" the thought had been on her mind all morning. Knowing that as an arrancar, she was not welcomed in the least in the Seireitei, yet so far, all the Shinigami she'd encountered had treated her with nothing but kindness. Even the one she'd almost killed, though she had almost no recollection of that.

No immediate response was given. Unohana had expected the question, but the answer was not an easy one to give. "Why don't we get you changed out of that dirty outfit? I bet you'd be more comfortable in something clean."

Forcing a weak smile that looked more like a grimace, Airi managed a nod. She would indeed like to get out of the remains of her Las Noches uniform.

"I've never heard of a human being directly transformed into an arrancar, or an arrancar with one soul inside," began the Captain as she helped Airi out of her old uniform.

"I don't know how it happened, one moment I was running for my life, then I had a sword and I was fighting Aizen's henchman, the next I was in pain on the floor. When I woke up... I was like this... I don't understand why they did this to me... I think they really just wanted Zezuri, and I don't understand why that is either."

Unohana discarded Airi's destroyed clothes on the floor and began to help her into a plain white under-robe. Her patient's wounds were healing well, but oddly slow for an arrancar. "It sounds as if you were actually on your way to becoming a shinigami before you were changed."

"Is there a way to revert this?" the girl looked up, trying to keep from sounding too hopeful.

A sad sigh escaped the master healer, "No," her eyes went distant, "One hundred years ago, there was a whole group of shinigami who suddenly went through something similar to what you just mentioned."

"What happened to them?"

"They were ordered to be destroyed by the council. That's all the more I know. We lost several captains and lieutenants that day..."

"Oh, I see..." Airi understood this news changed nothing about her own situation. Despite her clean clothes, she felt more tainted than ever.

Loud running was heard coming down the hall. "AIRI!" the door to her room burst open once more.

"Z-zezuri?!" the blonde blinked in surprize.

"We'll talk more in a bit, Airi-chan," Unohana excused herself, exiting with Airi's old clothes in hand.

"I'm so glad you're finally awake!" Zezuri rushed to the bars separating her and her friend.

"Zezuri, what are you doing here? You look so different..." Airi noticed Zezuri's change in clothing.

"It doesn't matter, I'm just glad you're okay!" she tried to embrace the still slightly disoriented arrancar.

Airi returned her friends embrace with a small pat on the back. She could tell Zezuri was crying.

"Why are you crying, Zezuri?" she asked, parting from her.

"It just... It seemed Ulquiorra had a hold of your emotions, but I can tell you're almost you again." the brunette wiped her eyes.

"Hmmm... maybe... I still feel so tired."

"Your wounds aren't completely healed... Here let me." Zezuri began to heal the last of the blondes scars.

"How is Grimmjow?" Airi decided to ask as she waited for her friend to finish.

"Oh, he's fine... I guess." Zezuri couldn't look Airi in the eyes as her cheeks grew pink.

Airi still couldn't process human feelings and brushed off Zezuri's reaction. She wondered briefly what was going on with her emotions, but decided to worry about it later.

"Y-yeah, he wasn't hurt too bad, but he is getting restless sitting in his cell all the time." the brunette laughed nervously. "There, all done!"

"I see..." Airi rotated her shoulders to see if they were in working order "Thanks." she gave a small smile.

"Oh... I've got some other news. I mean, they really didn't give me any other choice but... I've decided to join the Soul Reapers. Well, it was either that or have my powers and memories taken away." Zezuri still was unsure. "But now I have to pick a mentor and I don't know anyone here except for Renji and Captain Kuchiki."

"At least your future looks a little brighter..." Airi then said sadly.

"I'm sorry... Grimmjow was bitter about it too. But it was the only choice I had! I may have some hope of beating Aizen and saving you guys!" Zezuri tried to convince her.

"Hey, the head captain is still waiting for your decision! Hurry up!" Renji poked his head in the door.

"I'm coming!" Zezuri shouted back impatiently. "I'll come see you again soon, Airi!" she hugged her again.

With the departure of her friend, a silent gloom filled the room. There had been so much she had wanted to tell Zezuri, yet she hadn't. Maybe it was the release of her emotions that held her back from saying anything. She'd held her tongue while Zezuri had healed her surface wounds. No one had told Airi directly, but she knew most of the damage she had taken was internal. Had she been human, she never would have survived. As an arrancar, she knew she was supposed to heal faster; she had in the past. What was hindering her regenerative powers?

Sitting up and gazing out the small window, Airi lost herself in thought. Shouldn't she mourn the fact she couldn't go home? That she was dead? That she was likely to be destroyed for being a monster? Search as she could, the emotions necessary remained far out of her reach.

Only when the door slid open once more did she look away from the window. Restu Unohana had returned.

"There's more wrong with me than you're telling me, isn't there?" the blonde looked up at the captain, her tone of voice sounded indifferent, but worry shone a little in her eyes.

The smile that the captain had worn faded without a trace. "That's what I came to talk to you about. I wasn't going to withhold anything from you, though Hanataro didn't want to tell you."

Airi took a deep breath; she knew she wasn't going to like what was coming next.

* * *

_Thanks for reading, we hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to comment/review/make suggestions/etc. We don't bite! :) Promise. Hope to see you next time!  
_

_-Airumel_


	19. A Little Evening Air

_Happy almost Turkey-day to those of you to whom it applies! Here's an extra long chapter to go along with all that extra food and shopping you'll be seeing. _**  
**

_-Airumel 11/19/2012  
_

* * *

**-Chapter 19-**

Zezuri returned to the meeting hall of the Captains to find it empty aside from the General and the captain with long white hair. The two were deep in conversation.

"I'll leave you here," Renji gave his companion's hand a gentle squeeze before parting ways.

Gathering her courage, Zezuri walked forward once more down the long hall until she stood before the General.

"You're later than I expected," he began sternly, redirecting his attention to Zezuri.

"I, uh..."

"Well, I suppose I asked you to make a decision rather quickly without much input. I apologize for that, but under these circumstances time is of the essence. The choice is still yours, however, I wish to add in my thoughts on the matter. The captains of the Eighth and Thirteenth divisions are some of my oldest pupils. They have their own weaknesses and faults, but I feel that either would be a suitable captain to help you with your power as both are skilled with kido and swords. The fourth captain is also an old student of mine, but she mostly relies on healing techniques, something I understand you are also quite gifted with. I do not know if she could help as well as the others. Unfortunately, you've met our other captain that had a talent for kido already; Sosuke Aizen would have been another. As for the remaining captains, they are much younger and not as skilled with kido; which I strongly suggest you harness that talent of yours."

"I was thinking, sir," began Ukitake, "How about the three of us all take turns training her, since she is gifted in more than one art. I can teach her kido, while the others can help her with her Zanpakto."

"Perhaps you're right... You may spend one week with Unohana, Shunsui, and Ukitake so they may perfect your abilities."

"Alright... But in return, may I have permission to visit my friends once I finish training with one captain?" Zezuri got the courage to ask.

A moment passed before the answer came, "Agreed, but only if you succeed in your training... You will also continue to stay in 6th squad dorms. I will also be expecting full reports from each of the captain, Jushiro, be sure to pass that message along."

The thirteenth captain gave a curt nod of his head in acknowledgment.

Yamamoto bowed his head before looking Zezuri in the eyes. "Should we suspect treason, we will not hesitate to eliminate you and the other two."

"U-understood!" Zezuri trembled a little.

"Your training begins in the morning. Be prepared; they will not go easy on you." With that the meeting was brought to an end.

As Zezuri exited through the giant doors full realization of what tomorrow would bring washed over her, followed with dread. She would have crumbled had she been alone, but the sight of bright red hair in the corner of her eye calmed her just a little: Renji was there waiting for her.

"Hey, don't be so down. I heard what they're gonna do with you. Man, that is rough, but you'll make it." He tried to encourage her. "So, um, there is a small festival going on tonight, some of are gonna hang out there for a while, if you want to come..."

"Really? I've never really been to a Japanese festival before. That sounds great! I wish..." Her words faded off.

"Sorry, they can't come..." Renji became sullen.

"N-no I understand, let's go have fun!" Zezuri noticed her depression was affecting everyone.

"Okay!" he exclaimed with a quick smile, "I'll let the girls know and you can all pick out kimonos together." Renji summoned a Hell butterfly and sent it on its way.

"I don't need another outfit, I've been given so much!" Zezuri protested.

"Too late..." Renji had noticed Rangiku and a few others had already arrived to take Zezuri away.

"Time to stop hogging the newbie, Renji!" She exclaimed, snatching Zezuri by the wrist.

"This is Rangiku of squad 10, she'll be with us tonight to." He introduced the lieutenant with a sigh.

"Yeah, Momo, Nanao, and I are taking you to get kimonos for tonight!" Rangiku seemed to be overflowing with excitement.  
Zezuri allowed herself a smile.

* * *

"I'm sorry, I can't say for sure what is happening. You're the first fraccion, let alone arrancar, that I've ever met," Unohana laid a hand on Airi's and gave it a gentle squeeze.

The girl was silent, green eyes wide as she tried to process the information she'd just head.

"Hanataro didn't want to tell you. I think he was afraid you'd be angry. You'll have to excuse him, he has good intentions but some days he's afraid of his own shadow."

Airi nodded, unsure of what to say. She knew her days were numbered; there was no place for an live arrancar in the Sereitei.

Unohana withdrew her hand and rose to her feet.

An execution date, she had expected, but that wasn't what had been handed to her.

"Will you be okay by yourself?" the captain asked, looking over her shoulder as she opened the door to the hall.

"Y-yeah!" Airi blinked and looked at her caretaker.

"Okay, Hanataro will be around if you need anything."

"I'll be fine. Thanks. For everything," she forced a smile as her inner mind crumbled.

The door slid shut behind the captain and her footsteps soon faded into the distance.

With not even a hint of warning, Airi found herself weeping. Tears streamed from her eyes and great heaving sobs made her entire body shake.

She had been expecting Unohana to tell her she would die, yes; executed in fact. Often, she had wondered how long they were planning on keeping her around for? Would they take her first, or Grimmjow? It was only a matter of time before she would meet her end by someone's blade.

Yet, there would be no need; she was dying.

The thought struck at her very core. Somehow this was different. Worse even. Wasn't she too young to die? Even for a second time? Her many internal wounds were failing to heal, or as Unohana had put it "refusing to heal". The captain shared a few hypothesis with Airi as to why this was happening; her status as fraccion seemed to be key. Either her betrayal or separation from her master, possibly a combination of the two, had a debilitating effect on her powers in general. As a result, her powers of regeneration had faded exponentially.

To make matters worse, Unohana admitted to trying to heal Airi many times, only to find her attempts less and less effective as time had passed. At first only the deepest wounds were unresponsive, but when the surface wounds began to reopen, the captain's suspicions had been confirmed.

Eventually, the arrancar cried herself out.

Not knowing when she would expire, and far too weak to move more than to sit up, Airi's had no choice but to wait for her time to run out.

The pale moon sat in a black, starless sky, in its final sliver before it would vanish. A pale figure, still as the endless sands below, gazed at its fleeting beauty. Deep in thought, he stood there in silence, unmoving, as if waiting for a signal.

* * *

"Oh, here's a pretty yellow one!" Exclaimed Rangiku, thrusting it into Zezuri's arms.

"These kimonos are so complicated..." the girl thought as she went to try it on. All the other girls were helping each other dress in kimonos, but as she had only just met most of them, Zezuri felt too embarrassed to ask. Silently she edged away.

But she didn't get very far.

"Where are you going? You can't put that on yourself. Now strip!" The 10th lieutenant demanded, starting to undress the brunette.

"P-please, this isn't necessary!" Zezuri struggled, but it was useless as Rangiku was much stronger than her.

"Oh calm down! It will only be a sec... So it seems like you and Renji have gotten close. I see you guys together all the time. You gotta thing for him?" Rangiku pried her for answers.

"N-no! Why would you think that?! We're just friends!" The brunette exclaimed.

"Okay, okay, calm down, I just had to ask. You only have eyes for that espada, I get it." She tightened the obi around Zezuri.

"How did-?" Zezuri was surprised it was so easy to see.

"Yeah, it's plain as day on your face when you think about him. Man, Renji never stood a chance." The lieutenant smirked. After a few long minutes, Rangiku finished dressing Zezuri and exited from the curtains to the others who were already purchasing their kimonos.

The girl took a moment and looked herself over the mirror. The last time she'd worn a kimono, she'd been so small. A long forgotten memory. She had been at her grandmother's house; a Tabanta celebration from before she'd even met Airi. But as she looked at herself now, she realized just how long ago that had been. Staring back at her was a familiar, but unexpected reflection. This would never have been the path she would have traveled on by herself, but her in this moment, surrounded by her new friends, maybe, just maybe things were starting to take a turn for the better.

Still lost in thought, she emerged from the curtains.

"Ah, Zezuri-Chan, you look so cute!" Remarked Momo, bringing the girl back to reality.

"Haha thanks..." She felt embarrassed. "I should go pay for this before I walk out of here wearing it." But as she approached the counter, she remembered she didn't even have a cent to her name.

"Byakuya-Taicho has already paid for your expenses." Said the woman who owned the shop.

"Oh..." Zezuri had no idea how she could repay everyone for their kindness. By any right, she should be sitting in a cell like Airi and Grimmjow. It wasn't fair, this treatment for being more human.

* * *

Night had finally come and the streets were filled with numerous vendors and lights. "I wouldn't think shinigami would have such festive occasions..." Zezuri thought. Rangiku and the others dragged her through the crowds to play games and eat different foods.

"Oh my gosh, I might explode if I eat anything else!" Zezuri patted her stomach.

"The night is still young, Zezuri-chan!" Rangiku said already boozed up a little, throwing an arm around her. The gold details on her red kimono were caught by the festival lights every time she moved in the slightest.

"Hey, there's Renji and the other guys!" Pointed Yachiro who was getting a ride on Isane's shoulders as she was the tallest of the group. The two were wearing similar kimonos; both were flowery but Yachiro wore a pale blue kimono while Isane wore a dark green.

"Hey!" He waved out to them over the crowds.

"You airhead! You were supposed to wait for us at the entrance!" Rukia jabbed him in the side.

"It's not my fault!" Wheezed the redhead, "The guys wanted to get to all the stuff before it got crowded!" He held his ribs; Rukia's blows were strong for her size.

Zezuri stood apart from the group as the girls and guys greeted each other, showering one another in complements on the festive outfits.

"I'm going to get some flowers for Airi." Zezuri decided, stating her intentions aloud and began to wander from the group.

"Hey! Don't wander off alone! What did I tell you about that?" Renji joged to catch up and grabbed her hand.

"T-to ask you before I go anywhere." She said startled as his warm hand held hers.

"We'll meet up you guys for the fireworks in a minute!" He shouted out to the others as the crowds began to separate them.

"R-Renji..." Zezuri squeaked.

"What? Are you okay?" He asked worriedly.

"You're squeezing my hand really hard..." She whimpered.

"Oh, sorry..." He quickly let go of her hand, very embarrassed. "Let's hurry up and get those flowers!" He lead the way as Zezuri followed behind, clutching the back of his green robe so they didn't get separated. Renji was very tall and seemed to part the crowed like the ocean.

"This stand should have bouquets... One please." He paid the vendor. "Here..." Renji quickly handed the flowers of pink and yellow to her. "We have to hurry, the fireworks are gonna start!"

"O-okay!" Zezuri tried to clutch on him again as he seemed to rush forward but she couldn't keep up with the 6th lieutenant, and tripped. She looked up but couldn't find Renji. Pulling her arms in close, she tried not to be trampled on by the oncoming crowd. People were bustling by at a dizzying pace, there was no way she could regain her feet in this deluge of movement. As she held the bouquet close to her, she was almost stepped on before a pair of arms swept her up. For a second her heart stopped as she imagined Grimmjow saving her from danger again, but her hallucination was broken as she saw Renji's face and red hair.

"There you are! You gotta be more careful, otherwise you won't survive training tomorrow!" He scolded.

"Sorry..." She couldn't look him in the eye. "Oh no..." They looked up and the fireworks already started. The crowds began to depart over toward the plaza to watch the fireworks, leaving Renji and Zezuri watching the sky in the streets.

"It's alright... Here..." He flashed stepped into a rooftop. "This is a better view anyway." He chuckled.

"It's... nice..." She wondered if Airi and Grimmjow could see this from their cells.

"Umm Zezuri... Since you're going to be here for... Well... Forever, almost, I guess. If you need anything, I want you to know you can always count on me..." he said quietly.

"Ahaha thanks. You guys have done so much for me... I don't know how I can repay it..." She hung her head.

"You don't have to. We did this because we wanted to." He tried to explain. But he saw the girl was becoming distraught again. "Zezuri..." He placed a hand on her shoulder, then suddenly kissed her cheek.

"R-Renji!" She leaned away from him.

"Sorry! I was just trying to make you feel better!" He became angry at himself and embarrassed. "You just looked like you were going to cry. You were thinking about your friends again... I know..." He muttered.

"Renji I..." She didn't know what to say, she had no idea Renji felt that way about her. Guilt crept over her as she looked over at the red haired man who was watching the fireworks silently.

"Yeah, I know you and that arrancar have something going on... I just thought..." He began to mumble again. "Never mind, forget about it." He tried to laugh it off.

"Renji... Thanks." She smiled.

"F-for what?" He asked confused.

"I just thought everyone only cared about me because I have connections to Aizen, but you really do care about me. I can tell the others do too. I just wish they knew Airi and Grimmjow are just like me." She looked up at the fireworks.

"Well if you say so..." He still wasn't sure if he could believe her on that. Maybe to her they were good, but he didn't see how any arrancar could be good.

* * *

Silence had gripped the room in a tight grasp after Airi had finished crying. She didn't know what to do. She wanted so badly to get up and run, but that was out of the question.

As she wouldn't allow herself think about what was happening to her anymore, Airi laid back on her bed and watched the shadows creep across the floor until darkness filled her room. Despite her every effort to keep them at bay, the thoughts came back as the last rays of sun slipped from her windowsill.

Again, every urge in her body was to run, but where would she go? And why bother? Physically escaping death was impossible. Still, the urge to do something persisted. Did she even have enough energy, she wondered. With all the determination she could muster, the arrancar pushed herself up and tediously placed her feet on the floor. The contact of bare skin on the cold tile almost made her give up, but there was no point in lying around and waiting, no when there wasn't anything worth waiting for.

"Okay, I've got this." she muttered to herself. Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself as hard as she could from her bed onto her feet. The effect was dizzying. As the room swam before her, she reached out for something, anything to grab onto, but even the chair next to her bed was out of reach. "Well, that was stupid..." she thought before falling to the floor.

* * *

A familiar sound suddenly filled her ears. Waves crashed around her head as Airi realized she was back on the strange rocky island that had plagued her dreams in the not too distant past.

To her utmost frustration, she found she could not muster enough strength to get to her feet here either. Instead of struggling further, Airi pushed herself over so that she was lying on her stomach and crawled for the center of the rocky shore, grateful that the stones were so smooth.  
Where was that dark-haired girl and the sword? She wondered while struggling across the shore. Every moment, she kept as alert as possible, but sign of anything other than the rocks and sea were present.

Finally reaching the middle, Airi stopped and painfully pushed herself up into a sitting position. Scanning around the island, she found that she was indeed the only soul around. The sea gleamed with its odd starry composition as small waves gently rolled onto the shore and swam back with a whisper. No wind blew and the cloudless sky was a deep purple color, yet no stars hung above her. Airi had never understood what this place was, but today, it was calming at least. Gazing out into the never ending distance, she was about to let her mind wander when she noticed what was wrong. It wasn't the location; the hand she had subconsciously brought up to tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear caught her attention.

"I'm bleeding?!" she exclaimed. Looking down, her stomach came up into her throat. Airi had never been squeamish around blood; she had never gone into the hall during dissections in biology, but seeing her own blood, in this quantity... it was too much.  
The ocean suddenly roared up as all went dark again.

* * *

"Miss Airi?" someone called, shaking her urgently, "Please don't be dead!" The voice was panicked and belonged to Hanataro, Airi recognized as she blinked open her eyes.

"Uuugh," she moaned, putting a hand to the back of her head. Realizing what she was doing, she quickly moved it back to her line of sight so she could inspect it for blood. "I hit my head... didn't I?" she asked the shinigami after assuring herself it had all been a dream.

"P-possibly..." He had backed away a few feet from where the arrancar lay, "I-I heard a n-noise and found you like this."

She made a mental note that her concussion hadn't lasted long.

"Hanataro?" she asked after a few moments of awkward silence passed.

"Y-yes?" came his nervous response.

"Thank you."

"H-huh? What?" confusion had stuck the young shinigami.

"You're the one who brought me here."

"Yes. B-but... you're... still injured..." the fear in his voice ebbed away to be replaced by concern and sadness.

Shutting her eyes, Airi tried to push back the negative thoughts that had begun to bubble up. "You saved me from Las Noches... from my-" No, she scolded herself mentally, I'm not anything of his, "Ulquiorra."

When Hanataro didn't respond, she continued while grabbing onto the bed and pulling herself into as close of a sitting position she could get. "You didn't know this would happen... so you can't blame yourself." She added realizing that she would be feeling the same way in his shoes.

Hanataro wasn't sure what to say. People often thanked him for healing them, but how could this arrancar thank him for sealing her fate? Even if she wasn't in her current predicament, she would have been left to rot in some cell or executed with no remorse. Ever since he'd brought her back, he'd been stricken with the guilt of condemning another. His lack of will to take life had been what really pushed him into learning as much of the healing arts as he could. Culling hollows was supposed to be the duty of every shinigami, yet here he was healing one and feeling guilty when the job surpassed his skills.

"Hey."

Airi's voice cut through the myriad of thoughts rushing through his brain.

"I don't really want to bother you... but... could you help me off the floor... it's kind of cold..." she chuckled in embarrassment at her predicament.

Without a moment's hesitation, Hanataro found himself aiding the taller girl. She was surprisingly lighter than he had expected. "So... w-what were you trying to do?"  
Airi sighed, "I... well... I had this urge to run somewhere... but... well, that's not quite possible." She spoke haltingly, quite embarrassed that it had come to this. "I guess, I just wanted some air."

"O-oh!" the shinigami knew she couldn't escape, but he hadn't quite expected her to leave the room either. "I could, we could... go outside for a bit..." his voice dropped down to almost an inaudible level.

"You don't have to. Not if you'll be in trouble," Airi protested as her caretaker began to assist her to the doorway.

"I-it won't be a problem. Everyone else is at the festival."

Airi hobbled the best she could, trying to use as little help as she could, but every step she took felt as if she would collapse, "Why didn't you go? You've been here all day, right?"

The shinigami let out a small chuckle, "Well, Isane fuku-taicho wanted to go, so I... I told her that I didn't want to go." Holding the fading girl, Hanataro struggled to slide open the larger front doors of the division. "B-besides, I'm the one who brought you h-here".

Trying to keep her balance, Airi leaned off the shinigami as much as she could allowing him to open the door. The cool night air swept inwards as the two hobbled out onto the well polished wood of the veranda. A shiver went through Airi's body; the air held a tint of winter chill and she was not dressed to be outside in the light robe she now wore.

Hanataro quickly sat his ward down on the porch next to a pillar she could lean against. After a quick word, he dashed inside to find a blanket for her.

Airi slumped against the pillar after the young man's departure. She wasn't sure how she'd manage to get back inside, even with help. During the short trip from her room to the porch, she had almost passed out several times from nausea and pain. However, she felt satisfied that she hadn't let off much of her discomfort to the healer. It had been more important to make it outside.

Gazing upward, she found to her delight, a star-filled sky. She felt nostalgic, staring at the sky as she often had before everything. Lying on the old couch at home, peering out the roof of a sunroom window, wishing she could be off on some adventure. Well, ironically, she'd gotten it... and then some.

"Miss Airi, I found one!" exclaimed Hanataro, breathless as he draped it around the arrancar's figure.

"Thanks."

"N-no problem."

The two sat in silence listening to the wind gently blowing across the deserted courtyard.

It was Airi who broke the silence, "Your captain told me, by the way, about my condition." The girl had suddenly been filled with the need to talk about it.

Hanataro's gaze became suddenly downcast, "Oh..."

"It's okay. I understand why you didn't tell me."

"I thought you... you would be mad... at me..."

"Why?"

"It's my fault!" he shouted.

Wishing she had the energy to reach out and at least put an arm on his shoulder, Airi had to settle for turning her head, "It's not your fault. I mean it. I'm glad you rescued me. I have my emotions back, I'm not under anyone's control, I'm me. Well... more than I have been lately. And that's more than I could ask anyone for. You risked your life for me! Someone who tried to kill your comrades! If anyone should feel guilty here, it's me. You've all been so nice to me and I don't deserve any of it!" It had all just come pouring out, all of her frustrations, guilt, thanks, everything.

She paused and gazed back up at the sky. Calmer, she spoke again, "I just have one question: why did you do it? Why save me?"

Taken aback by his patient's outburst of guilt, the shinigami took a moment to collect his thoughts. He too gazed up at the stars above, "I was asked... by another arrancar... he asked me to save you and in return, he'd save Matsumoto fuku-taicho."

Airi blinked in surprize, "Who asked you?"

"I don't remember, he never said his name. A-and, I was too... well... s-scared to look at him... but his reiatsu... was stronger than even Unohana-taicho's." He looked at the girl, expecting some sort of reaction, but she was stunned, trying to figure out who would have done this and why. "P-please don't t-tell anyone!" Matsumoto and Hanataro had only told a select few about their encounter as they weren't sure why it had transpired either.

A yawn escaped Airi's mouth, "No worries, I won't."

"O-okay. T-thanks."

The girl's form slumped slowly. Then, all at once, she fell forward off the porch onto the ground below.

"Miss Airi?!" yelled Hanataro in alarm and rushed to her side. Taking her wrist in his hand, he confirmed she was still alive by the faint amount of reiatsu pulsing through her as if were trying to replace a heartbeat. Her lack of cardiac pulsing was more disturbing than the odd feather-like fragments in her hair or the gaping hole in her chest. He'd almost forgotten about it as her new robe had concealed it well, but a small area of it peaked out reminding him of what she was.

"Miss Airi?" He called again, gently shaking her.

There was no response.

Airi had lapsed into a coma.

* * *

_Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Chev and I have been doodling our characters a bit lately, if anyone cares to see what we think our characters look like, they're all over our accounts on DA. Here's my latest one/the current cover if you noticed: art/Peak-of-Autumn-332801100. Chev, on the other hand, just posted this awesome sketch dump: art/Zezuri-Contemplation-338602505 (She's so much better than me). _

_Until next time!  
_

_-Airumel (11/19/2012)  
_


	20. The Plan Set In Motion

****_Hey everyone! Sorry for the long hiatus; the holidays were rather busy for the both of us. Anyways, I'd like to make a quick shout out to TheRealGoldenGamer, thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement. Chev and I were stunned that our story meant so much to someone other than us. -Airumel (1/29/13)  
_

* * *

**-Chapter 20-**

Two figures sat on a rooftop in the Rukongai under the crushing shadow of the Seireitei's walls. The smaller figure, a brunette girl gazed down at the slowly clearing festival in the streets below. People bustled back and forth taking down decorations and food stalls. Lost in confusion, Zezuri allowed the memories of a few summer festivals from her early childhood vacations in Japan float to the front of her mind. She decided that she would rather feel homesick right now than think of her current situation.

Renji, too, was lost in his own thoughts. Gazing up at the now empty sky he wondered how he'd misread the situation so greatly. To put it simply, he felt like the biggest idiot in the world. Looking at the vast expanse of the dark sky above at least made him feel a little more insignificant.  
A cold breeze blew. The wind was beginning to pick up, but neither one said a word.

Of course Zezuri wasn't into him like that; Renji's mind was on replay of the kiss. They had only known each other for a short while and he'd been impulsive, as usual. He'd been the one taking care of her, but he'd also been the one to forcefully bring her to the Sereitei. Additionally, he knew she liked that blue-haired arrancar left to rot in the prisons. So why did he feel like a kiss would help anything?  
Renji let out a sigh taking a quick glance at the silent figure next to him. She took no notice as she sat with her legs dangling over the edge of the roof.

The silence was stifling. Renji wanted desperately for her to speak. To say anything. An angry outburst. Just something. But from the reaction he'd received earlier, the lieutenant wasn't sure if Zezuri would even want to talk to him again.

"Do you feel that?" She suddenly said, turning her head to the outskirts of the Seritei.

"Feel what?" He also turned his head to see what she was looking at, confused at the girl's sudden outburst.

"It feels familiar... and dangerous..." She began to stand and climbed to the highest point of the roof. "There is a hollow here!" She pointed in the distance.

"That's impossible!" He exclaimed, but then he could feel it too. "There is no way..." Renji was still in disbelief. "Well I guess the guard can take care of it." He reassured.

"No... It's too powerful! Renji, take me there!" She demanded.

At first Renji didn't know what to say, but he nodded in agreement. "Here, climb on my back. We can get there fast if I carry you." Zezuri had no time to hesitate and proceeded to do so.

They soon arrived at the gates leading to the Rukongai, and found everything in full chaos. Zezuri gazed up at the large hollow amidst a crowd clamoring in fear. No other shinigami were in sight.

"It's a menos!?" Renji's jaw dropped. "How did it get in here?"

"Aizen..." Zezuri murmured, but no one heard. "Everyone stand back!" She stepped forward, but Renji grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing?!" He said, wondering if the girl was sane.

"I can do this, Renji!" She shook his arm away.

Renji looked his companion over with much concern; she wasn't as experienced of a fighter like he was.

The menos towered over them, casting a shadow like a tidal wave of doom. Zezuri shook visibly from the torrent of power coming off of the large hollow. Her vision blurred for a moment as it drew nearer. Shutting her eyes, Zezuri began to focus and regain her bearings. She sucked in a big breath of air before releasing it along with her fear. Blue energy began forming in her outstretched hands as she began to summon all the power she could muster. The wind began to pick up as large gusts of wind blew all around the two shinigami as the Zezuri's spiritual pressure grew.

Noticing someone was helping, or merely that the weather was getting bad; the people in the street sank to the ground. Renji took a step back; hoping the girl knew what she was doing.

In a sudden motion, Zezuri pointed her arms up towards the menos's masked face, despite the strain of the enormous amount of energy she had summoned trying to force her to the ground. With a yelp, she released the power. It shot towards the menos, resulting in a large explosion that lit the night sky like a burst of sunlight.

When the light faded, the sight left behind was stunning; having lost its head, the menos' large form swayed slightly before crashing to the ground. The resulting impact shook the ground. The crowd that had been silently cowering on the ground now scampered to their feet, running as fast as they could this way and that to avoid being crushed.

Zezuri wiped sweat from her brow, her vision was a bit foggy and her head pounding in pain.

"T-that was... crazy!" Renji rushed to her side, "But you did it! Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah... I'm fine." Zezuri trembled as her knees began to buckle.

"You just need some rest." He scooped her up just as her legs gave out.

A band of shinigami suddenly appeared out of a flash step a short distance in front of Renji.

"What happened?" one asked looking at the damage caused by the menos, "We heard reports of a hollow in the first division, but where is it?"

Renji cleared his throat.

"Abarai fuku-taichou!" the group bowed briefly, "Did you take care of the menos?"

The lieutenant shook his head. There was no way he could have taken out the menos by himself tonight; he'd left his sword at the barracks as it would have been poor manners to show up with it to a festival.

"Uh... I-I did it..." Zezuri spoke softly.

The other shinigami looked at the exhausted girl, still dressed in her yukata from the festival. No gratitude showed in their expressions.

"Sorry to leave you with the mess guys," Renji assumed they were angry at the clean up job left in the wake.

"That girl is bad news, lieutenant Abarai!" One said after a moment's hesitation.

"I bet she brought that menos here! She destroyed it to fool us!" Accused another.

"How can you say such ridiculous things!?" He glared at the others. True, he had his doubts some moments about the girl's power, but he was convinced she was trying to do good with it.

"Everyone is going to die because of her! Just watch, when we all start trusting her, she'll betray all of the Seireitei to Aizen! He probably wanted us to take her in so he would have a spy!"

Despite the cruelty in his tone, Renji could not come up with a solid counter argument. Zezuri did pose a threat to the soul society; Aizen had obviously wanted the girl in the first place and from the sounds of things, he hadn't gotten what he'd wanted.

"You don't know her like I do!" was all he could retort with in the end. Frustrated and knowing he would only get himself into trouble, Renji sped off into the coming dawn carrying Zezuri's exhausted form.

Soon they were back at the barracks of the Sixth Division. Renji set the girl on her feet as they approached her room.

"Well, good night." Zezuri began to close the door, but Renji stopped it with his hand. "Oh, Renji?" She turned to look at him as his large build loomed over her.

"I just... Don't want to see you sad anymore. I'm going to protect you no matter what happens." He said, looking her in the eyes. "Don't be brooding over what they said all night." Renji paused searching for more words, "Get some sleep," was all he managed. With that, he turned and left, catching a smile from the brunette as she slid the door shut.

With a large yawn, Zezuri turned to her futon and crawled under the blanket feeling a little more comforted.

* * *

From the dark depths of second division's prison, Grimmjow had felt the menos' presence. In fact, he had even felt the tear in the dimensions forming for some day now. Since he had nothing better to do aside from sitting on the cold stone floor awaiting his doom and plotting his escape, he had focused on sensing spiritual presences in order to check on Zezuri. Yet, this plan had not worked as well as the Espada had planned.

For one, Zezuri's spiritual pressure was usually close to nil, as he knew from firsthand experience. To make matters worse, there were many strong shinigami milling about on the grounds far above.

Furthermore, his wounds were not healing very fast. The same properties that negated his attempted to break out were hindering his healing abilities. Under normal circumstances, a day or so would have been enough for him to recover from the cuts and bruises he'd obtained what felt like ages ago. The wounds had healed, but were currently scabbed over and the bruises had yet to fade away.

Based on these factors, Grimmjow wasn't sure that if he had the chance to escape he'd be able to make it. The darkness of the cell wasn't what bothered him; he was used to the never ending night of Hueco Mundo, but rather it was the total isolation. The only other beings he ever saw were the guards that came to toss a few stale rice cakes into his cell every so often. He longed to see his fraccion and the contrast of white sands under a black sky, but most of all, he oddly enough found himself longing to see the brunnette girl he'd somehow become attached to. He hadn't realized how much he liked her company until he'd lost her. Her hair, her protests, and the few rare smiles he'd seen; he missed them all.

As the Espada had lost track of time, he'd begun to lose hope of seeing anything outside of his cell again.

That hope had been rekindled a few days ago, or what he guessed was the span of a few days, when he had felt the start of a rift beginning between dimensions. At first, Grimmjow hadn't been sure of what he was sensing, but it had become apparent as more and more showed up. There were four now; three inside of the seireitei and one just outside. It seemed like someone was targeting the Second Division, as each portal had gotten successively closer.

Just who was behind this and what they were after was not clear. It was apparent that this was not the work of Aizen or another Espada as all of them could open a portal just outside of the Seireitei in a matter of seconds. Shinigami, as far as the arrancar knew, could do the same, and they would not be restricted to the outer bounds of this dimension.

Yet, the most puzzling aspect of the portals was that no one else seemed to notice their presence.

A prickling sensation crawled up Grimmjow's back as he sat in silence. He turned to look for whatever could be causing this disturbance. Behind him the air shimmered faintly for a second.

The Espada blinked and the vision was gone. Sighing, Grimmjow closed his eyes and shook his head slowly.

Hope was a cruel thing.

* * *

The bright morning light poured through the large windows of the Fourth Division. A young shinigami was struggling not to doze off in a chair he had pulled alongside a bed under the lone window of the room. As the dawn had crept in through the glass panes, Hanataro watched as it slowly crept over the lifeless form of his ward.

Racked with guilt for taking her outside, the young shinigami had convinced himself that Airi's comatose state was his fault. When the arrancar had fallen off the porch he had first panicked, the fearful corner of his mind sure it was a ploy for escape. Yet, when he went to help her up, all fears of that kind had subsided only to be replaced with the fear that she was really dead. While it was not the case, Hanataro was not sure if this was much better.

After carrying her lifeless body back into the division, the healer had made a run for his captain's quarters. His panic levels had only increased when he had found her room to be empty. Remembering that there was a festival and the captain was out enjoying it, he had forced himself to swallow his fear and sent a Hell Butterfly to find either the Captain or her lieutenant. It had taken all his nerve to sit and wait, knowing there was not anything he could do. Accustomed to being powerless in combat, Hanataro had found peace with himself when he had learned the healing arts. Now here he was powerless in something he felt strong in. He had sat in the chair, knees hugged up against his chest waiting fervently for help to come.

Only a few minutes passed before both Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Kotetsu had arrived. Neither one spoke a word to their comrade as they rushed into the room and checked the arrancar's vitals.

"It seems she has fallen into a coma," confirmed the captain after a few minutes of using different healing spells.

Hanataro's expression betrayed his feelings. Isane gave her underling a sad smile, "It wasn't your fault, Hanataro."

Her words didn't make him feel any better. They had left Airi in his care and he had failed.

"Isane is right, Hanataro. You did all you could." She knelt down in front of him so their eyes were level. "You've been taking excellent care of her. It was only a matter of time before something like this was going to happen. You knew that, so please, don't punish yourself". Her gentle brown eyes held sorrow, but Hanataro knew it was all for him and none for the girl, whose fate seemed sealed now.

Silently, the captain swept out of the room, following Isane.

Hanging his head in defeat, Hanataro had listened as their footsteps faded away.

Coming back to the present, he looked up at the bed. Morning sunlight cascaded over Airi, yet it looked like a funeral scene. He had placed her on her back and folded her hands across her chest. The bright sunlight added to the effect, providing a natural spotlight that illuminated her blonde hair and made her skin look as pale as death. Only the gentle rise and fall of her chest gave any hint of life. Soon, that too would fade out. It was only a matter of time, the captain had said. Wasn't there something he could do? Anything? How could he be so helpless?

Frustrated and grieving, Hanataro decided to wait for a miracle.

* * *

Zezuri awoke after several hours of restless sleep. Since she had defeated the Menos, a few hours earlier, she had felt something amiss in the Soul Society. For a minute during her battle, she had the oddest feeling that her former classmate, Ichigo, was nearby. But why would that be? She hadn't seen him since Renji had brought her to the Seireitei. As she had during the battle, Zezuri shoved the thought to the back of her mind.

Exiting her room, Zezuri journeyed to the porch outside to find a warm, breezy afternoon. She must have slept for longer than she'd thought. The rays of the sun gave her strength, but the dark shadows stretching across the lawn only brought her fears back to the present. With Grimmjow's fate up in the air, Airi's non-existent reiatsu, as well as her own situation, worrying so much had made her very weak. Stuck by sudden despair, Zezuri put her head in her hands only to find she was unable to produce any more tears. She also felt terrible that Renji was trying so hard to help her, yet he never seemed to understand that he was trying to protect her from all the wrong things! She was safe, for the moment, but it would only be a matter of time; Aizen would attack soon. And deep down, Zezuri knew she would be at the heart of it.

Before she could think further, the 6th lieutenant appeared behind her. "Oh..." she turned her head to look up at him.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just sometimes it's hard to believe what has happened..." She paused looking at a bundle of black and white clothing Renji was holding; the uniform of a shinigami. Suddenly, her first thoughts of the day bubbled back to the front of her mind. "Has Ichigo always been a shinigami?" She asked suddenly.

The lieutenant blinked a few times, wondering where this question was coming from. "Well..." Renji's voice trailed off as he recalled the information, "That's kind of difficult to explain. I guess he has always had it in him, but it was a long time ago. Rukia was ordered to go the human world to exterminate hollows, but she got into trouble and had to give Ichigo some of her power and that-" Before Renji could finish his story, Captain Kuchiki was standing in front of them.

"It's time for your training." Byakuya addressed Zezuri matter-of-factly.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" She jumped to her feet. Today she would be with Captain Unohana for the rest of the week.

"Almost? Seems that you did forget!" Renji laughed, but his captain looked at them impatiently. "Er, you'd better change first." He thrust the uniform he'd been holding at Zezuri, who grabbed it as she dashed back to her room to change.

Praying she'd put everything on correctly, Zezuri burst out of her room. Not bothering to shut the door behind her, she ran as fast as she could to meet with Renji on the porch.

The effect of the uniform on the girl caught Renji off guard as he couldn't help but think for a brief second about how different she looked compared to how he'd seen her last night in the yukata. Shoving the thought down, he came back to the moment. "Let's get going!" He said hurriedly.

It was only a short distance to travel from the Sixth Divison to the Fourth by flash-step. The two arrived at the front gates in an instant and walked up to the front porch where Captain Unohana and Isane where waiting for them.

"It would be best not to worry her; do not tell Zezuri about Airi's condition." The captain whispered as she gave a welcoming smile and waved to Zezuri and Renji.

Isane nodded quietly.

"Sorry, I'm late." Zezuri bowed apologetically. "How is Airi?"

"Your friend is getting lots of care and attention here." Unohana smiled.

"Well, I made a deal; I can't see them until I'm done, so I'm ready." Zezuri said, determined.

"Renji, you are welcome to watch." Isane said.

"Actually Captain Kuchiki is expecting me back. There's plenty of work waiting for me. See ya!" He turned to leave but looked back. "Good luck!" He shouted over his shoulder to the brunette and vanished.

* * *

"Kisuke!" yelled a tall woman as she exited a large portal. "Where is that guy?" she sighed before yelling louder, "We've got a problem!"

"You don't have to yell, I'm right here." The blond owner of Urahara Shoten had been standing on the other side of the construct. It was his job to make sure it did not collapse after all. One did not build a stable portal in a week after all.

Seeing the grave expression on his best friend's face, his usual grin faded. "What it is, Yoruichi?"

"They aren't in the same place. I only sense one presence in the cell and I can't tell you which one."

"Do you know where the other is?" Urahara asked; the goal of this was to rescue both girls.

"She was around the Sixth not too long ago, but I don't think she'll be there long. I also got the sense she was being guarded. By Abarai-kun, I would assume."

This complicated things. The shopkeeper was silent for a moment.

Yoruichi flipped her hair over her shoulder restlessly. She knew Kisuke was excellent at making plans, after all that was one of her main reasons for recommending him for that fateful promotion a century ago. But could he think any slower!? Time was of the essence here! She began to tap her foot impatiently.

"Do you think you could create enough of a distraction?" Urahara spoke softly.

"What? Speak up!" And here was one of the factors that had made others hesitant to promote him.

"If we cause a distraction and have our fastest member run in and grab her, it just might work."

The ex-captain of Second Division gave a hearty laugh, "Ah, Kisuke, I love your plans." Noticing his baffled expression, she elaborated, "If you, me, Hirako, or any of the others, so much as set foot in the Seireitei, we'd probably give several captains a heart attack."

"Well...?" he asked cautiously, "Do you think it'll work?"

"WHAT?! Are you crazy! Of course it will! I wasn't the head of the Stealth Division for nothing!"

The smile returned to Urahara's face. He treasured the moments when he could bring back the 'old' Yoruichi. If she felt confident, there was no way they could fail!

* * *

Grimmjow was in the middle of a nap when the disruption arrived.

"Well, this is a problem," said a voice from behind the Espada, jolting him out of his sleep.

Jumping to his feet, Grimmjow whirled around to face the intruder. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" he hissed.

The intruder was human by looks, but strangely not giving off any reaistu.

"Woah! Calm down, I'm not here to hurt you!"

"Then answer my questions!"

"I will, just keep your voice down," the intruder looked out into the dim hallways nervously, "My name is Kensei, I'm here to rescue two girls that were kidnapped by Aizen".

At this information, Grimmjow's eyebrows shot up.

"Do you know them?"

The Espada's mind worked quickly, seeing how he could use this situation to his advantage; this man had somehow come into his cell, he must have a way out, "And if I do?"

"Can you tell me where they are?"

A grin crept onto Grimmjow's face, "What's in it for me?"

* * *

_Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave a comment/review/etc. Hopefully, we'll be getting back on a more regular track with the updates. -Airumel_


	21. A Chair, A Cat, & Confusion

_Hey all! Sorry for another delay! We kind of got absorbed into Fire Emblem Awakening... eheheheee... And we had an issue at the end of the chapter with a character suddenly leaving when I had other plans. That set us back a little, but here you go. Extra super long chapter! Bonus, chapter 22 is already 2,000 words long, so we just need another 1,000 at least._

_-Airumel (2/26/13)_

* * *

**-Chapter 21-**

Another sleepy soul in the seireitei was also about to have a rude awakening. As the day had stretched on, Hanataro hadn't moved from his chair aside from the occasional moments when he felt fidgety enough to reposition himself. He was beginning to drift off while listening to the sounds of the vice captain and Zezuri training in the courtyard out the window. They'd been at it for quite some time; mostly kido work, from what the young shinigami could hear.

He began to nod off and slumped down in the chair when he sensed the strangest sensation that the solid back of his chair was no longer there. Snapping back to consciousness, the healer was on his feet facing his chair.

Except it wasn't there anymore.

Instead, a gaping black void hung in its place.

"W-what the-" Hanataro was too sleepy to be scared, instead a strange curiosity caused him to inch slowly towards the void. It was missing the ornate doors of a shinigami's design, but it still seemed more refined than the gashes he'd seen hollows and arrancars create to travel through dimensions.

While he was still puzzling what was going on, a black cat dashed out through the portal.

"Huh?" Hanataro watched it run by him. What should he do, he wondered, chase the cat or stay here? Looking back at the seemingly sleeping arrancar on the bed next to him, Hanataro snapped to attention. The portal hadn't gone away yet and what threat was one cat? He had a responsibility to protect Airi, and he wasn't about to give up on that.

Warily, he put a shaking hand on his zanpakuto's hilt, not sure what would come out next. He hoped he'd be able to handle whatever it was.

Movement from within the void caught his attention. The shinigami tightened his grip.

A wooden chair slowly slid out from the darkness.

"Eeep!" squeaked Hanataro. Chairs didn't move on their own! What was going on here?

"What's the holdup?" a voice spoke softly from within.

"Our distraction didn't work. I sense someone still in the room."

"Anyone we know? Oh, wait, you wouldn't... anyone I would-"

"I know him."

Hanataro was shaking violently now. The voices were talking about him! He took a deep breath and drew his sword.

"You do?" The first voice sounded intrigued.

"It's... a long story." The second replied, not wishing to divulge any further details. "He'll cooperate."

"Okay, anyone else around?"

A pause was heard before the second voice spoke again, "No, the cat seems to have taken care of everyone else."

Filled to his limits with anxiety, Hanataro found his voice, "W-who's there?! I-I can h-hear you!"

"Well, I guess that's our cue." The first voice said with amusement, "After you!"

With that, two tall figures emerged from the darkness.

* * *

"What in the world?!" Isane exclaimed as a black cat rushed by. Zezuri turned her head towards the distraction that ran across the way. But then the cat seemed to pause and watch them.

"Aww, a kitty cat." Zezuri exclaimed, it reminded her of a certain someone, but in a less threatening sense.

"This can't be good..." The 4th lieutenant said, looking worried.

"Why? Do you think it is bad luck?" Zezuri didn't think the shinigami believed in such superstitions.

"No, that's not it. You see, there aren't any animals in the Soul Society, let alone the Seireitei..." She explained, but Zezuri was failing to see her point."We should catch that cat!" She said quickly. But as they approached the black feline, it dashed away again, only to pause once more, as if teasing them.

* * *

Hanataro didn't know what to do. Both of the figures that had emerged from the void were somehow familiar to him. They both looked human enough, but he couldn't sense what they were.

"Hi there!" greeted the owner of the first voice he'd heard. This one had straight blond hair cut a little ways above his shoulders. The healer was sure he'd seen this guy before, maybe not in person, but somewhere...

The other man stood silently beside his companion and was by far the more familiar to Hanataro. Wavy brown hair hung in an untidy way below his shoulders.

"Would ya mind putting away your zanpakuto?" the blond asked, "We won't hurt ya."

Hanataro had forgotten that he was still standing in a battle-ready stance. He didn't sense any malicious intent from the two, nor did they appear to be armed. Both were wearing clothing from the living world and neither had a sword at their side. Warily, the healer sheathed his sword.

The brown-haired man moved without a sound to the bed where Airi lay.

Hanataro's hand remained on the hilt of his sword.

"I see you've been doing a good job taking care of her," the man spoke.

Suddenly, Hanataro recalled where he'd seen the brown haired man before. He had been the one who had approached him and Matsumoto during the battle against Aizen's forces. Or was he? As the details of the memory surged forward, Hanataro would have sworn that the man who had approached them had been an arrancar, possibly an Espada by the power he'd had resonating off of him that night. Yet, instead of wearing the white uniform of Aizen's forces, this man was wearing a brown pair of slacks and a green button up shirt. If that wasn't strange enough, no sign of a mask or hole was visible. The man that was looking at Airi now lacked all characteristics of an arrancar. Was that even possible?

"Y-you?!" Hanataro exclaimed, "Y-you w-were the one w-who-"

"Yo, Starrk," the blond man interrupted, "We're about to get some company. Hurry it up!"

Starrk nodded and lifted the unconscious girl with little effort.

* * *

Zezuri and Isane continued to race after the strange black cat but no progress seemed to be made. The feline was just too fast.

"This is impossible!" Zezuri said, wiping sweat from her brow. The two stopped to catch their breath, but when they looked up again, the cat was gone. But another shinigami came running from around the corner; it seemed to be the lieutenant from the Third Division.

"Izuru?" Isane noticed the usually timid lieutenant was frantic.

"There's been a prison break!" he blurted before stopping to gasp for air, "The Espada is gone!"

The two girls exchanged a glance. Why hadn't they sensed anything?

Zezuri took a minute to process the information. Had Grimmjow broken out? No, he couldn't have on his own, she was sure of it. Her heart stopped with dread as she thought the next possibility; Aizen had finally come back for them.

"Have you checked on the other?" Izuru directed the question to the other lieutenant.

Isane was having thoughts similar to Zezuri's, "Hanataro was watching over the girl..." her voice trailed off.

A strange sensation Zezuri recognized from when the menos had appeared crept up her spine. Something was definitely wrong.

Despite their current state of exhaustion, the three turned back towards the 4th squad barracks and took off as fast as their feet could carry them.

* * *

"WAIT!" Hanataro shouted as he made to draw his sword again, "Y-you c-can't take her! I-I... I won't let you!"

Eying the short Shinigami, Starrk said nothing. His glance was a threat in itself.

"I wouldn't challenge him, if I were you," remarked the companion. "He's stronger than me, for cryin' out loud!"  
Hanataro didn't have any clue who the blond thought he was, but he could tell he was vastly outmatched. Still, he refused to back down. Even if he hadn't slept in the past day and a half, he still had to try, "I-I have to protect her!"

The blond man sighed.

"I understand your concern, Shinigami, but there is not anything more you can do for her," Starrk looked Hanataro directly in the eyes. "You know she will die. Your captains will not help an arrancar. The Seireitei's history should tell you that much."

"B-but-"

"Retsu was just taking pity on you. Had you actually healed her, she would have been executed eventually." The other man spoke, "We're going to take her somewhere we can help her."

Hanataro was trying to make sense of everything. How did this man know his captain on a first name basis? No, that could be pondered later! The healer shook his head to clear it.

Airi's life was in the balance here. Was he sure that these strangers could take care of her? No. Yet, on the other hand, he knew the truth of the matter; Airi was not going to last much longer, not without better care. He also didn't know what she needed. Maybe he could trust them?

Before he could come to an answer, the thundering sound of footsteps came running down the hall.

"We need to go, NOW!" shouted the blond.

Starrk nodded and rushed past the baffled Hanataro.

The sliding door was thrown open harshly. Isane and Izuru burst in, swords drawn, just in time to see the two men jump through the void.

Isane's face turned sheet white, "Hirako-taicho...?"

Izuru and Zezuri rushed in at the void as it closed in front of them. The lieutenant stopped short while Zezuri reached out as if to grab the portal. Her hand closed around thin air. "No..." whispered Zezuri, she had caught a glimpse of the two men escaping, one of them carrying off her friend. Her heart had dropped when she recognized the Espada named Starrk. Of course Aizen would be behind this! But who was that other man? He didn't look like an arrancar. And neither had been wearing white for that matter. Did they take Grimmjow too? "Who was that?" She finally asked.

"The blond one? He used to be a Shinigami... but... he's supposed to be dead..." Isane tried to explain, but was finding it too difficult to put it into words. She had only been in the academy when an attack in the Rukongai had resulted in the deaths of three captains, three vice-captains, and the vice-captain of the kido-squad. Reports had been mixed as to what had actually happened, but all had ended the same way; no one that had been sent out that night had survived.

Zezuri wanted to ask more about what Isane had meant, but they were already rushing off to the prison where Grimmjow was being kept.

With every pounding step forward, Zezuri's emotions became more complicated. She hoped she would see him. This had to be a nightmare! Both of her friends gone in one day leaving her all alone in this strange place. Yet another part of her was glad Grimmjow had escaped, despite the fact she might never seen him again. Or worse; she would meet him on the battlefield as an enemy.

As the three arrived in the courtyard of the Second Division, they stopped suddenly to see the captain of Squad Two staggering towards them.

"Did the espada do this?" Izuru exclaimed.

"No, he was already gone. But Yoruichi-sama..." Before Soi-Fon could finish she collapsed on the ground. The name she uttered made Isane and Izuru exchange increasingly puzzled looks.

Suddenly the cat's appearance made sense, "So, she's behind this..."

"Do you think Ichigo is in on this too?" Izuru whispered to his fellow lieutenant.

Zezuri noticed the strangeness she felt earlier had now vanished completely. "They're gone..." She murmured.

* * *

"Damn it! I couldn't find her!" Ichigo said frustrated emerging from the other end of the portal into the barren landscape of Urahara Shoten's basement.

"Ah, Ichigo, welcome back," The owner greeted him cheerily before looking him over. "Where's the other girl?" Kisuke asked becoming serious, "We're short one."

"I dunno, she was moving around too much. Not to mention she had almost zero spiritual pressure! How the heck was I supposed to find her?!"

"Oh yeah..." The man in the hat scratched his chin.

"Is there something you forgot to mention?" The boy with orange hair was losing his patience.

"Yes, there is. I figured this would happen." He laughed at his absent-mindedness.

"Well we can't go back now!"

The green-garbed man sighed, "I know. But at least we know they trust her enough to let her join. She wouldn't be any safer here."

"Huh?"

Ichigo's only response was the distant look of the ex-captain. Sighing, he walked away, knowing he wouldn't get the answers he was looking for until Urahara deemed them important at the moment. Why did he always have to be so full of mystery?  
Another figure watched from her perch atop a large stone formation. When she was sure the young man was out of the basement she leapt down with surprising agility for her size. "What are you up to, Kisuke?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He grinned sheepishly.

Yoruichi was not as easy to dislodge as Ichigo when it came to unanswered questions. She stared determinedly at her best friend and partner in crime. "I had to beat down Soi-Fon again," She waited for him to respond. When he didn't she continued, "They know it was us, no doubt. What was so important that we had to risk ourselves like that?! They've left us alone until now!" The ex-captain's temper was rising.

Rather than try to get a word in, Urahara let his comrade continue.

"You even involved the Hirako's group! What the hell was so important that you would risk their safety too?!"

Not much longer now...

"Since when did we keep anything from eachother!?" Yoruichi shouted.

Her words seemed to hang in the air as silence filled the air.

Kisuke dropped his false smile and very plainly asked, "Can you trust me, just this once? I will tell everyone, but not right now."

"Then when?! When it's too late?!"

"Soon. I promise."

Yoruichi gave Urahara a pained look, "Fine, but I don't like this... And what are you still doing here?! As I recall, someone needs some medical attention! Don't tell me you forgot!"

* * *

Upstairs in a small back room that frequently served as a guest room, a small crowd of people gathered around an unconscious girl. A futon had been laid out in the center of the floor upon which Airi now lay.

Ichigo stared at the girl lying on the futon. The solid white feather-like fragments along the side of her head seemed so unreal. He had seen her the day before she had vanished, back when she had been human. Her white robe did not quite cover the hole in her chest that only further emphasized her lack of humanity. How had all this happened to her over such a short period of time? And she had seemed to remember him when they had crossed swords around a month ago. From what he knew, that wasn't how the process of becoming a hollow worked. And he knew from first-hand experience.

"So, this was one of your classmates, eh?" Shinji asked, breaking the silence. The Vizard had made an excuse of traveling abroad to skip out on the summer semester of school.

"Not exactly. Her friend, Okinami-san, was in my class."

"Well, what's her name?" asked the Vizard.

"I, uh, well... I don't remember. It wasn't Japanese and I only met her once..." Ichigo scratched the back of his head.

"It's Airi." Starrk provided. The ex-Espada had seated himself in the corner of the room furthest away from Ichigo and Shinji. He was still uncertain that the Vizards trusted him despite their easy acceptance of him. The turncoat Espada had encountered the charismatic leader of the Vizards while tailing after Grimmjow's group on one of the earlier missions to collect shards. As neither party had sought battle, an odd sort of uneasy truce had formed between the two. The point where it had become an alliance was still a bit blurry as he looked back on it.

Starrk noticed Shinji and Ichigo looking in his direction, expecting more.

"...What?" it would take a lot of adjusting to get used to having to communicate with people. At least this group didn't want to try to fight him for his rank. Starrk wasn't sure what they saw in him, but he was going to give this a chance.

"How well do you know her?" asked Shinji, curious to see how much of a back-story he could get out of his unlikely comrade.

The ex-Espada arched an eyebrow, "All the Espada knew them. Aizen had us pretty much babysitting..." What he wouldn't give for a nap right now.

His opportunity came sooner than he guessed it would. A clatter of materials announced the arrival of Urahara, arms laden with a box of various supplies.

"All right you three, clear out! I've got some work to do."

* * *

The blue haired Espada was stretched out on the roof of Urahara Shoten, reveling in his freedom. It was still hard believe that he actually made it out of the Soul Society, alive. If he hadn't been able to provide his unlikely rescuer the whereabouts of Airi, he'd still be wasting away in that awful prison. He shuddered at the thought. After he'd been brought to the living world, all attention had shifted to the urgent state of the girl, leaving Grimmjow to his own devices.

As for Zezuri, the Espada was unable to tell discern her location. After all, a prisoner had no business knowing about such things. An inkling of sadness entered his eyes; he hoped Zezuri wasn't too upset that she had been left behind. It was better this way; she was safe from Aizen. At least for the moment. Grimmjow was no fool; he knew Aizen was biding his time and waiting for the right moment to strike. His thoughts wandered back to his homeland. Perhaps he should return to Heuco Mundo? Reclaim his rightful place as Espada? A new thought made him cringe; there was a good chance that Aizen had already replaced him. No one would have expected to see him alive again after that capture. He smirked thinking of the reaction he could get if he returned. But then again, what of Zezuri?

"Hey, you up there!" A voice interrupted Grimmjow's thoughts before he could think any further.

Looking down, he saw the tall man with straight blond hair standing below. By the way he acted, Grimmjow was assuming this was the group's leader.

"What's your deal? You gonna help us out or just be a bump on a log?" Shinji shouted up at the Espada.

Grimmjow stared back, unamused by the man's antics, "What do you want?" he grumbled.

"Just curious to know who's side you're on." The Vizard cut straight to the point.

Grimmjow shrugged, "What's it to you? Going to chase me off?" Knowing he still hadn't fully recovered himself and with a broken spirit from his capture, the Espada wasn't sure he was in any mood to fight.

"Well, this certainly isn't the Grimmjow I remember..." muttered a familiar monotone.

Blinking back his surprize the Sixth Espada met eyes with the First. Yet, the man standing in the yard below was clearly not an arrancar. "What the Hell?" Weariness forgotten, he flashed from his spot on the roof to stand in front of his former comrade and grabbed the front of Starrk's shirt. "YOU-!" Grimmjow was at a loss for words.

Starrk's expression remained placid.

"Easy now." Shinji cautioned the enraged Espada, "We can't have a fight here. You'll flatten everything! If you two need to work it out, go use the basement."

The ex-Espada removed Grimmjow's hand from his shirt. "That won't be necessary, Shinji, I have no intentions of fighting." He turned to walk back inside. There were more important things to deal with right now.

Grimmjow was left to balking at Starrk's dismissal. Why would the First Espada become a traitor? Why leave his position in Aizen's army?! Reduce himself to something less than arrancar?!

Starrk had become weak and nothing angered Grimmjow more than weakness. A growl of fury issued from deep within as he felt his rage welling up inside him.

Without warning he charged at the brown-haired man's back. "YOU MIGHT NOT-"

Starrk looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow and released enough spiritual pressure that Grimmjow was forced to sink to his knees, choking on air.

Without a word or glance more, the ex-Espada returned inside of the shop.

Shinji stared in amazement. "That was harsh..." He thought for sure a full fledged fight would have broken out. Again, he had underestimated his new comrade. Hurrying to catch up with him, he too left Grimmjow to wallow in his defeat.

Grimmjow sat in the dirt where he'd been defeated. What was going on? Nothing made sense here. There was no way the First Espada would change sides! Aizen had given them all a reason for existing! Hadn't he? Placing his hands in his pockets, he found an unfamiliar object. Curious, he turned out his pocket. Something clattered to the ground. Zezuri's hair clip, small, green, and flimsy, looked out of place in the Espada's large hand as he picked it up. Words of a promise he had made faintly floated back to his memory. "Well, you were what started this whole mess..." he muttered to it.

* * *

Brows knit with much frustration, Zezuri thought she might die with worry. Aizen must of taken Airi and Grimmjow! She knew he had to be behind this! But who was that other man? She was sure she'd felt Ichigo nearby during this whole mess, but that didn't make any sense. Hadn't she been told he couldn't get here without permission? Unsure of this part of the issue, Zezuri kept silent.

Then there was the question that bothered her the most: why had she been left behind? Was she really of no use to him? Perhaps Aizen was planning to return and destroy the Soul Society when he came to reclaim her.

"Zezuri?"

The brunette looked up to see Isane entering the room, "The captain felt it would be best if I took you back to the Sixth Division while she deals with Soi-Fon taichou. Things can get... a little scary when she needs medical attention."

"Oh, okay." Zezuri was emotionally numb, still dealing with the shock of events that had just transpired. The sun was just beginning to set and Zezuri was feeling more alone than ever as she trudged in silence down the cobbled streets behind the silver-haired lieutenant.

Renji was waiting on the porch with a few of the other lieutenants Zezuri recognized as Momo, Rangiku, and Izuru. "What is everyone doing here?" she asked.

"We heard what happened today," began Momo, "Izuru told us."

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay." Rangiku added.

Zezuri was taken aback. She hadn't realized that the other shinigami had accepted her as a friend so quickly.

"A-are you okay?" Matsumoto asked noticing tears welling up in Zezuri's eyes.

Fighting to hold back her tears, Zezuri tried to smile, "Y-yeah! I'm fine. I just... didn't realize you all cared so much about me!"

All attempts to hold in the tears failed as suddenly Zezuri found herself being embraced by the busty lieutenant of the Tenth Division.

"We might have just met, but we understand, at least a little bit..." Hinamori's voice trailed off as her mind traveled to her former captain's betrayal.

Izuru nodded and Renji gave Zezuri a soft smile of compassion.

Releasing the emotional brunnette, Rangiku pulled back. "We should forget about today! I'll go grab some sake!"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"My captain will skin me if he catches me drinking tonight."

"Rangiku, must alcohol be your answer to everything?"

"Wait, Masumoto, don't you have a patrol tonight?"

Zezuri laughed as the night dissolved into arguments only close friends could have. It was just enough to make her feel better. How could people be this happy if their world was about to end? Perhaps there was hope after all.

* * *

_Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to review/ask questions/comment/cheer us on etc. Suggestions are also fun. I love suggestions. And since I have a good chunk of the next chapter up, I'll tell you that many many many things will finally be answered. Things you didn't even think to ask! Be excited! I am! Until next time! -Airumel _


	22. Revelations

_I assure you we're not dead yet. This chapter took extra-super lengths of time as I had to make up the plot. Yes, the moment you've been long awaiting. I thought I had it all written back in February, but then I had to add a page a few days ago... Anyways you aren't reading this story to listen to me ramble. Please ignore me and just get to the story. -Airumel (3/25/13)_

* * *

**-Chapter 22-**

Warm and peaceful were the first thoughts that bubbled up from the depths of an endless darkness.

"But that can't be right..." thought the girl as she struggled to remember who she was and what had happened before she'd fallen into nothingness. Everything was fuzzy, as if part of a dream. Maybe it was.

All at once, the rest of the girl's senses came back online as if someone had hit a switch. She felt the warmth of blankets that had been lain over her and listened to the calmness of her surroundings. Hope renewed itself and for a moment all was good with the world. She would wake up, at home, in her room, her bed, on a perfectly ordinary day and just in time for breakfast.

Yet as her senses came more into focus, the hope for normality began to fade. What was that faint beeping noise? Why did her arm hurt? Furthermore, the scent of the room further convinced her this wasn't home.

Knowing she couldn't hide under the covers from the monsters that plagued her mind, the girl begrudgingly opened her eyes.

An unfamiliar scene came into focus. The room was dark, save for the light that crept in from the hallway revealed by an sliding paper door that had been left open. Airi's memories flooded back lead by thoughts of the last two rooms she had woken up in. This wasn't the Seireitei. Nor was this Hueco Mundo.

Instinctively, she drew her hand to the right side of her head. Fingers met bone and all hope vanished in a flash. It was true then, it hadn't been a dream; she was an arrancar. Airi found herself longing for the darkness she had awoken from.

She shut her eyes, wishing she could slip back into the blissful nothingness. Try as she might, it would not come. Memories of all that had happened played inside her mind in fast forward. Only when she remembered the events in the Seireitei that she opened her eyes again.

A particular phrase had stuck in her mind along with the sad look that had accompanied it. Hadn't she been told she was dying? Airi recalled feeling weak and in a great deal of pain. Nothing seemed to hurt; everything seemed normal aside from a dull pain in her left arm. A tug followed by a sharp pain came from just under her elbow as she propped herself up on her right arm. Despite the darkness of the room, the girl could plainly see a the needle of an IV stuck in her arm's most prominent vein. Airi stared up in horror at bag of fluid hung on a rack next to where she lay. However, it was not her newly obtained fear of needles from Syazel, nor her old fear of being hospitalized that caused this reaction. Rather, the contents of fluid bag was what terrified her most. Light from the hallway was enough to reveal the color; a pale green.

Despite not having a physical heart, Airi still felt her pulse quicken. Why was the same substance that she and Zezuri had been forced to drink now being used as her life support? Should she pull it out? What would happen if she did? Placing a hand on over the where the needle stuck out from her arm, Airi prepared to remove it.

Only the soft thud of bare feet on the solid wood floor stopped her from carrying through with her current course of action. Instead, Airi waited to see who was coming.

"My, my!" exclaimed the figure when it stopped in the doorway, "Seems like you're an early bird."

A faint click sounded and suddenly the room was illuminated by fluorescent lights overhead.

"W-who are you?" Airi blinked hard as her eyes adjusted to the light. The stranger was male, garbed in green and wearing a striped hat. For reasons she could not explain, Airi felt as if she had met this man somewhere before.

"Kisuke Urahara. This is my shop you're in."

The arrancar struggled with her next question. "This might sound odd... but where is that?"

Urahara chuckled, "Don't worry, you're safe here. You're in Karakura, Japan. Sound familiar?"

Green eyes widened at this bit of information. Airi opened her mouth to speak and then closed it, finding herself at a loss for words.

The shopkeeper flashed her a kind smile flecked with sadness as if something was haunting him. "Yes, this is your world. The living dimension, if you will."

Relief washed over Airi, but it was quickly replaced with despair. "It's not my world anymore..." her free arm moved subconsciously over the hole in her chest.

Silence engulfed the room. Airi looked down, eyes not focusing on anything while Urahara crouched down to inspect the IV machine.

"I'm sorry."

"What? Why?" the girl looked up, confused as to how this could be anyone's fault aside from Aizen's.

"Because it's my fault, mostly, that is." Urahara seated himself on the floor next to the puzzled Airi. "I suppose it's time I tell the whole story." It was a little after four in the morning and Urahara knew he owed many others the same explanation he was about to give.

Taking a deep breath, Urahara removed his hat setting it on the floor next to him. Honesty is the best policy, or so Yoruichi had tried to tell him many a time. Maybe she was right."The truth is, none of this should have happened to you."

"I-I don't understand..." Airi was becoming increasingly befuddled by this man's apologetic behavior.

"Let me start at the beginning. Do you remember the night your friend went out and didn't come back?"

Airi thought long and hard. The memory was there, but she could have sworn it had been a dream. "I think so?" It was more a question than a statement.

"Well, I suppose you wouldn't, at least not clearly, but I'll get to that. Your friend, Zezuri, I believe, was the victim of a hollow attack."

"What?!"

"A nearby soul that had not been sent transformed and attacked her before any of my detectors told me what was going on. I arrived in time to dispatch the hollow before it was able to consume her soul. However, it had already severed her chain of fate; Zezuri was already dead."

"B-but she was fine the day after that!" exclaimed Airi.

Urahara nodded patiently. "That's because of this," he procured a glowing blue fragment from his pocket.

Airi recognized it immediately, "A shard! Aizen had us collecting those!"

"It's something I created quite recently... in fact, for events such as what happened to your friend. As we can't always predict when and where hollows will form, I wanted to make something that would be able to revive the victims of such attacks. This shard is designed to reforge the bond between soul and body. It's only a prototype and I was only successful in creating four."

The shard looked like nothing more than a glass fragment to Airi's eyes, but she could sense its power as she had with the others.

Urahara pocketed the shard once more. "Aizen has two, I have one, and the fourth resides inside Zezuri. She was the first person I used it on. When it worked, I became so wrapped up in my success that I overlooked the possibility that others had noticed. You were one of them, in fact."

"Huh?" the girl couldn't remember anything like this happening.

"You came running down the alley just as I revived her. I should have realized what else I had done right there. You were not able to see me until the shard fused with Zezuri's soul. It awakened spiritual abilities that you should never have come into. As I sensed only a very small amount of spiritual power coming from both of you, I was certain it would disappear. Clearly I was wrong. Humans don't just obtain power overnight and it seems yours only grew from there. I'm not sure how Aizen found out so fast, but I would imagine that's why he came after the two of you so quickly. "

Airi looked at her hands folded in her lap, had that really happened?

Urahara continued, "At first I didn't realize what had happened until Ichigo told me he had seen Aizen in his school. By then, I was too late to do anything. The two of you were gone, or at least your souls were. I found your bodies inside the in-between dimension and brought them back."

The shopkeeper stopped talking and looked down at the floor. He knew he had to tell her. Inhaling deeply, Urahara brought his eyes level with Airi's. "I wasn't able to save you," there, he'd done it.

Green eyes stared blankly at him, waiting for elaboration.

"I tried to use another shard on you, but it didn't work since your soul was missing. There was nothing I could do but watch you wither away."

Airi found tears welling up in her eyes. Even though she had accepted her death, it was painful to hear there was another end to it. "What about Zezuri?" she asked trying to move her thoughts from self-pity.

A small smile crossed Urahara's face. "The shard worked far better than I had thought; Zezuri's body is still living."

"S-she's alive?!"

"More or less in a coma, but yes, alive. In the technical sense of the word at least. As long as the shard is not separated from her soul, she can return to her body."

The blonde dissolved into tears once more, overwhelmed by everything she had just heard.

Urahara patted Airi's shoulder, "I'm sorry. Should I come back later?"

Shaking her head no, Airi tried to hold back her tears. She wanted to hear all of this now.

Keeping his hand on Airi's shoulder for whatever comfort he could offer, Urahara continued "I tried to lure out Aizen's forces by hiding the other shards where he could find them, hoping to get the Seireitei's aide. They came, but I didn't expect everything to go the way it did. It didn't occur to me that you would actually fight against them, but I don't blame you Ichigo told me he had seen you as an arrancar, I understood why I wasn't able to save you."

He paused to allow the girl to comment, but she remained silent.

"That's when we decided to rescue the two of you. Thankfully, breaking into the Seireitei is far less dangerous than Las Noches."

"Is Zezuri here?!" Airi's spirits rose.

"Regrettably, no. We couldn't locate her, but from what the Espada has told us, she seems to have been taken in by the Gotei 13. She's safe for now, but the longer we wait, the harder it will be for her to return to life."

"Oh... Wait! You rescued an Espada? Grimmjow?"

"I believe that's his name."

Airi felt relieved to know her comrade was alive as well, "They didn't kill him, that's a relief."

"He wasn't in too bad of shape, just a little bruised compared to you."

The girl looked back at Urahara, she had many questions about how she had been able to recover, but assumed she would be getting those shortly.

"To be honest, I wasn't sure you were going to make it. You were in a coma, I don't know for how long, but I would imagine not more than a day or so since you recovered so quickly. It's only been about half a day since we brought you here."

"But how? I was told I was... wasn't going to make it." Airi asked.

Glancing up at the IV drip he gave the answer, "Retsu is very powerful with the healing arts, but her skills are limited to those who are Shinigami. She overlooked a fundamental aspect of the hollows when she was trying to heal you."

"What's that?" As usual, Airi felt completely uninformed. Despite being something of a hollow herself, she had no idea what the man was talking about.

"Every being, living or spiritual needs subsistence to convert to energy. Humans and shinigami eat food. Do you know what hollows eat?" a dark expression crossed Urahara's face.

Airi's expression was troubled. Hadn't Grimmjow told her once?

Before her mind could produce the answer, the shopkeeper gave it to her, "Souls. Hollows eat souls."

Instantly, Airi's hand was on the IV needle once more, this time a gently placed hand on her own stopped her.

"Wait a moment! Let me explain," Urahara looked into Airi's eyes. They were full of panic. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to be on her end of this conversation. Somehow, she'd retained all of her human mind despite the hollowfication. That couldn't be easy to deal with.

Reluctantly, the arrancar relaxed her grip on the needle in her arm, but did not remove her hand completely.

Deciding she was calm enough, Urahara continued, "The contents of the IV is not what you are thinking it is. I've spent a long time studying and creating artificial souls, so I used that knowledge to create something of a replica for you."

"Are you saying that I couldn't heal because I was starving?"

"More or less. That much damage would take a great deal of energy to repair."

Still not sure if she could relax, Airi blurted out the question plaguing her mind. "It looks just like what they made Zezuri and I drink..."

"Oh?" Urahara's eyebrows shot up, "You'll have to explain this to me."

From her transformation to waking up in the Seireitei, Airi retold her part of the story to the avidly listening man.

When she had finished, he said nothing for a moment, processing the information.

"Unohana mentioned something about my status as a fraccion being part of the problem." Airi added, remembering that dreadful conversation.

"It is a possibility. I don't know too much about the ties between an Espada and their fraccion. All I can suggest is that you take it easy for a bit and let me know immediately if something feels wrong." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, "I won't let you die again."

Donning his hat and getting to his feet, Urahara made to leave the room. "I need to discuss these matters with some others who might know more. Try to get more sleep in the meantime."

Airi watched the green-garbed man exit the room. She wanted so badly to get up and follow him, but could not deny that she did feel rather tired still. Hesitantly, she removed her hand from the needle and laid back down. For the time being, she decided, a little more sleep couldn't hurt.

* * *

Despite it being only the day after the break in security, the Head Captain had ordered only a small force to carry out investigations while the rest of the Seireitei's forces were to return to normal duties immediately. Zezuri could do nothing but continue her training, as the Soul Society finally settled down. She was on her last day with Unohana as she patiently waited for the Captain to arrive. Today she had something important she needed to address.

"You're here quite early. You must be eager about something?" Unohana half questioned Zezuri, entering the room. The Fourth Captain had seen the same look in the young girl's brown eyes many times before and knew what would be coming next. A knowing smile crept onto her face.

"Well... I feel like I'm not getting any stronger... All I can do is heal and set off some energy..." The brunette admitted.

"What are you saying? You destroyed a Menos at a captain's level."

"I know... But one blast is all I can do. I don't have the stamina. I need to be stronger, because right now... I doubt I could destroy Aizen... or even be of any help."

The Captain understood exactly what Zezuri was trying to say. It was true the girl was strong with kido skills alone, but stamina was everything in a real battle. None one knew that better than Unohana, perhaps Zezuri should have started her training in the sword arts.

"Don't doubt yourself, Zezuri. You've already shown much progress. Just stay patient and diligent." Unohana smiled reassuringly at Zezuri, "Now, let us begin today's lesson."

* * *

Urahara Shoten had been abuzz with activity since the early hours of the morning. The small shop felt even smaller with the extra group of visitors that were all crowded around a low table set in the middle of a tatami mat-covered floor. They had been deliberating on their next moves for the majority of the time aside from a few breaks that the shopkeeper made to check in on the girl in the spare room.

Grimmjow sat next to the sliding door outside of the room, eavesdropping on the meeting. It wasn't a secret conversation, in fact the blue haired Espada had been invited to join by both Shinji and even Urahara himself. With his pride still intact despite a bruised ego, Grimmjow had shrugged off both invitations. What did he care about the girl upstairs? She was an arrancar like himself and the first rule of being an arrancar was the weak were destroyed. Part of him tried to argue that he too had been hopelessly stuck in the seireitei as well. He pushed the thoughts back by telling himself he'd escaped with minimal assistance. Then again, she was Zezuri's friend.

Frustrated with himself and bored out of his mind, Grimmjow got to his feet and began to wander aimlessly about the shop. Why was he still here? It didn't seem he would be able to get Zezuri any time soon. If this group 'rescued' her, who was to say that they wouldn't just keep her captive too?

The light was on in a room further down the hall. Curiosity erased the Espada's other thoughts.

"Hey, you..." Grimmjow addressed the room's sole occupant.

Airi jumped and looked up from a book she had been reading. "G-grimmjow?" she blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, who else would I be?" The Espada scowled in frustration. Something had changed about the girl since he'd last seen her when they had departed Las Noches what seemed an age ago.

Airi smirked, "I don't know. I'm just surprised to actually see you; only Urahara has been checking in on me. He told me you had been rescued as well."

Grimmjow was about to make a correction about him being "rescued" when suddenly he figured out what was different about Airi.

"Your emotions are back?"

Struck with the sudden realization, Airi's eyes grew wide. "You're right! I can't believe I didn't notice!" She sat in silence grinning at the thought of recovering. The moment was brief and the smile quickly faded. "Wait, I had my emotions when I was in the Seireitei as well... what does this mean?"

"Guess Ulquiorra got fed up with yo-"

"No he wouldn't." Airi cut off Grimmjow.

The two arrancar exchanged a glance.

As soon as the words left her mouth Airi knew it was true. The indignant tone spoke more than her words.

"Peh, what are you going to do about that?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's still controlling you. How long do you think he'll just leave you here?" The Espada couldn't help but smirk, even in verbal conversation he enjoyed having the upper hand.

Panic spread across the blonde's face. "He can't just order me to come back? Can he?"

An exasperated sigh escaped from Grimmjow as he put a hand to his forehead. "No, that's not how it works. I can't just order my fraccion around just by thinking things at them. I would've gotten out of that damn cell faster if that were the case!"

Airi felt a little relief, "So he would have to come here..." She began to piece the situation together. "That would mean... there would be more fighting... and I would..."

"Be forced to fight on his terms." The Espada finished her sentence.

"We can take 'em!" a new voice chimed in from behind Grimmjow.

Airi watched as a tall man with straight blond hair stepped into the room. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Grimmjow scowl at the newcomer.

"I guess I'll be going now. See ya." With a slight wave of his hand, the Espada made a sudden exit from the room. The very sight of the Vizard made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Arrancar and shinigami should never mix in one being as far as he was concerned.

The newcomer shrugged as Grimmjow brushed by him. "Oh well, I guess he hasn't warmed up to me yet!" A bright smile suddenly was on the man's face. "The name's Shinji. Pleasure to finally see you awake!"

"Uhhh..." Airi wasn't sure how to respond.

Shinji chuckled. "I'm one of the ones who rescued you. But, you wouldn't know that since you were out cold."

"Oh... Thank you. Very much." The girl looked down as a red hue crossed her face.

"And you shouldn't worry about getting dragged back to Hueco Mundo, we won't let that happen." Shinji directed the conversation back to its original course and knelt down next to Airi. "Urahara told us your story. I think we might be able to help."

"We?"

"The Vizards. That's what we call ourselves at least. We're a bit of an interesting group." A faint light flashed as he brought his hand up to his face.

Airi gasped.

In the strange man's hand was a mask. Not just any mask, a hollow mask. Without thinking, she brought her hand up to her fragments. "What are you?" She asked in awe.

"Neither an arrancar or a shinigami. You could say I'm something in between."

The look of wonder in Airi's green eyes prompted the Vizard to tell his whole story. After all their stories were so similar, Shinji felt he couldn't let the girl think she was the only one who had met this fate.

"I was a shinigami who became a hollow... not by choice, but by my crafty little sneak of a lieutenant." He glanced at the floor, a thousand regrets ran through his mind. "Damn Sosuke, how many lives will you mess with?" His voice filled with anger.

"Sosuke?" The name was unfamiliar to Airi.

Shinji sighed, "You've met. He's the reason you are what you are as well."  
"Aizen?!"  
"The very same."

Silence filled the room for a few minutes until Shinji spoke again. "We think there's a chance you could remove this." He tapped the feathers on her head.

"Really?" Excitement and hope bounded through Airi.

Shinji suddenly became serious. "It won't be easy. You're still weakened from your injuries and it sounds like that won't be healing fast enough for us to wait. We're short on time as your blue-haired friend mentioned; I would bet on the other Espada to come calling soon."

A curt nod from Airi signaled her agreement and understanding.

Shinji went back to beaming, "Great! I'll tell the others and we'll start tomorrow!"

* * *

_Thanks so much for your continued patience with our slow writing/editing process. Please feel free to tell us what you think/yell at us for slow updates/review/whatever. I respond to all comments. :) Hope to see you all next time! -Airumel_


	23. Battles of the Soul and Mind

_Greetings everyone! I apologize for another really long wait. This time it wasn't lazyness, but a technical problem: my hard drive died again... second time in 6 months. I assue you that I haven't been washed away in the flood yet... though there's a slight possibility that I may be encountering some issues due to that if it rains next week. Regardless, here's chapter 23! -Airumel 4/26/13  
_

* * *

**-Chapter 23-**

Midnight found all residents of a small shop in Karakura, Japan, sound asleep. All but one.

Grimmjow could not sleep. The darkness of the night felt so much more normal than the light and heat of the sun. As he lay on the roof staring at the stars peeking out between clouds he tried to make sense of everything that had happened. Here he was, moping about in the human world when he should be returning to Hueco Mundo to reclaim his position as the Sixth Espada. It wasn't that he wished to serve Aizen, rather he missed the feeling of power he had held. He had held the respect he deserved.

What was holding him here? The hopes of saving a girl who was for all intensive purposes, a shinigami. Or was it the fear of going back after having been the disgrace of all arrancar?

Restless and seeking to escape the thoughts in his head, Grimmjow found himself once again wandering the shop.

The dark shadowed halls made the building feel even smaller. Passing by a plain stretch of wall, the Espada felt something out of place. Stopping in his tracks, he turned to examine the wall. As his fingers brushed the surface he was sure of what he thought he had sensed. Abruptly, he pushed at the wall which swung inwards without so much as a creak to reveal an even darker hallway. A soft glow of light came from far down the hall. One silent step at a time, Grimmjow walked towards what he knew was at the end of the hall.

On principle, Grimmjow trusted no one but himself and his few fraccion. This secret door only confirmed his suspicions about the shady shopkeeper. Why hadn't he told him about this?

Zezuri lay on a cot hooked up to various machines with blinking lights and faint beeps.

Blue eyes gazed upon her lifeless form. She looked so weak, so fragile, so... human. Grimmjow was suddenly struck by how much he'd forgotten already. She had been human. Or was she still?

Watching the rise and fall of her chest in the faint light of the machines, he half wondered if she was really there in front of him. "Zezuri...?" he asked, half hoping she would wake up.

The brunette girl's form remained unresponsive. It was then Grimmjow regained his senses. This wasn't Zezuri. Or at least it wasn't her soul. Someone must have found her body; but how was she still alive? And where was Airi's for that matter? Looking around the room he saw nothing but darkness. Casting out his senses he felt nothing more than a whisper of Zezuri's presence.

A sudden urge to grab her and run off seized Grimmjow's mind and for a second, he really considered it. Shaking his head, the Espada knew that course of action would get him nowhere. Where could he go? And what was the point? Her soul was in the Seireitei. Taking her inanimate body gave him no advantages that he could see. Besides, this whole situation was insane. He couldn't be the king of Hueco Mundo if he was always protecting a defenseless human girl. Exasperated with himself, Grimmjow hastily moved toward the exit, but not before taking one final glance over his shoulder.

Bursting outside of the shop he drew in a deep breath of air. The compactness of the shop was as suffocating as the storm of thoughts in his mind. Snow was lightly falling and already a fine layer of white powder covered the concrete surfaces of the front walk. It was the final straw for Grimmjow; he had to return to Hueco Mundo. With a sudden fury, the Espada tore open the air in front of him and entered the darkness.

* * *

Zezuri was beginning to fall into the routine of waking up early to train with her various mentors. This morning would be the first she would spend training with Captain Kyoraku Shunsui of the Eighth Squad. As she followed a poorly drawn map Renji had made for her, the girl couldn't help but wonder what this captain was like. She had heard from Rangiku and Isane that Shunsui-taichou was notorious for being more than a little bit of a flirt. Though he never made more than a remark to anyone, the women of the Seireitei seemed a little uneasy talking about his mannerisms. An uneasy feeling welled up inside Zezuri's stomach as she approached the front gates of the division.

"Good morning, Zezuri." The lieutenant of the division, Nanao greeted the brunette girl and led her to the front porch. "If you'll just wait here, I'm afraid the Captain hasn't quite woken up today. Mornings aren't exactly his forte." She dashed off inside.

Zezuri chuckled, of course, the most she had heard about the Eighth Captain was his reputation to sleep away every moment of daylight. If his lieutenant let him.

Today was no exception to this rule and Captain Shunsui was snoring loudly, lying on his futon despite being fully clothed. A large decorated hat was tipped low over his eyes to block out the morning sun while his pink haroi was wrapped around him like a blanket.

"Captain, wake up! Zezuri is already here!" The sounds of an exasperated Nanao rang through the division as she hollered at her captain.

"Zzz... Oh, that time already? Say, Nanao-kun, why don't you take care of it for me today? I'm still tired..." He tilted his hat further over his face as if he could deflect his lieutenant as easily as he could the sun.

"You mean still hungover! Get up!" She swiped off his hat, allowing the sun to shine right into his face.

Cringing, the Captain admitted his defeat. "Alright, alright... I'm up."

Five minutes later, the Captain finally trudged into the main entrance of his division. Dark circles hung under his eyes as he tried to wipe the rest of the grogginess away. Sleepily, he looked around the room to find Zezuri tracing her finger on the floor in boredom. "Ah, it's been awhile, but I could never forget a cute, innocent face like that." He smiled at her.

Zezuri jumped up in surprise; she hadn't heard him come in. She looked at the captain, not knowing what to say. After all the warnings she had been given about the man's tendencies she found herself caught off guard by his flattery.

"Unohana has told me that you need some serious training in strength. Hmmm..." He looked over her quietly.

"W-what?" She stuttered, wishing he would stop looking at her.

"You still don't have a Zanpakto... That's not good." He groaned. "How can I teach you swordplay?"

He was right, Zezuri had noticed there wasn't a single shinigami without a Zanpakto. "What about some kido?" She tried to ask.

"No, I'm no kido master. That is 5th squads department, and Aizen used to be their captain. That devil even knows forbidden kido..." He muttered.

Zezuri remembered Aizen had begun to train her to channel her kido, but nothing in specific.

"I can teach you some basics. But, I won't go easy on you. Even though you don't have a sword, I can help you gain stamina with simple exercise for now. " he lead Zezuri outside as she already felt worried. "First off, laps around the training grounds! Well, off you go!" He sat under a shady tree.

Despite being autumn and early in the day, Zezuri found it was rather warm out in the sunny courtyard. She looked reluctantly at Captain Shunsui for a moment. This was such primitive training compare with the kido Unohana had made her practice.

The Captain caught her glance and winked.

It was all the motivation Zezuri needed to get moving as she wanted nothing more than to be out of his vision.

After something of an hour of straight running, Zezuri was ready to collapse. Her lungs ached as they struggled to take in enough air and her legs were beginning to shake with every step she took. Even in life she had never been much of an athlete, preferring the quieter activities like art and video games. For a moment she felt herself begin to break into a bout of homesickness, but Shunsui was yelling something to her.

"Now is not the time to quit! Aizen won't take pity on you! You're better than him! Right?" The pink robed Captain yelled encouragement from under the tree.

Easy for him to say, thought Zezuri, as she watched him drink some cool water, her throat yearning to get some herself. "I can't anymore until I rest..." She let herself fall in her tracks in the trampled grass. "This running isn't getting me anywhere!" Zezuri wondered if she would ever get a Zanpakto.

"Hmmm, well, I do have another method... It's quite dangerous though..." He said, giving the girl hope.

"I-I'll do it! Although... I could use some water..." She said, still panting.

* * *

Airi had been leaning up against the window using the IV stand for support when Urahara and Shinji had found her shortly after the sun rose. The light dusting of snow made her shudder; it looked too much like the white sands of Hueco Mundo. But at the same time it reminded her of many long past winters spent playing out in the frozen precipitation; skiing, snow ball fights, building creatures well over her head out of it. While she knew she would never be able to return to that life, the thoughts of what she was about to attempt today filled her with hope that perhaps she could remain here instead of returning to Hueco Mundo for eternity.

"Are you ready?" asked a cheerful Shinji, entering the room.

The girl nodded as she turned to face the two men. "I am." Slowly, she crossed the room doing her best to hide how much of an effort it was still taking her to move.

A wordless exchange passed between the Vizard and shopkeeper. Urahara wasn't sure this was the best idea at the moment, nor was Shinji. But what choice did they have? Both had noticed the disappearance of Grimmjow and knew their time had been cut down even more. Instead of a matter of days they had yesterday, the Espada's departure had reduced Airi's window of opportunity to mere hours.

The concerned look on the faces of her new comrades was misinterpreted by Airi as a lack of speed on her part. She quickened her pace trying not to look like she was stumbling as much as she felt she was.

"You'll have to go without that." Urahara indicated the IV still in the girl's arm. Despite using all the caution he could muster, Airi still winced as the needle was withdrawn from her arm. Putting a hand on the needle site, Urahara cast a quick kido to seal the wound. "Let someone know the second you feel you are about to pass out." His glance was as stern as his voice.

Airi shivered, sensing the shopkeeper wasn't telling her something.

"Let's go!" Shinji's voice contained enough enthusiasm to shake the ill feeling from Airi's mind. Taking her hand he led her down the hall.

They came to the back storage room where a panel in the floor had been removed to reveal a ladder into the depths below. "Do you want to go first?"

Thoughts of falling to her death danced in front of Airi's eyes as she peered down into the expansive cavern below. Would she be able to stop in mid-air in her current state. "Uh... I can." She answered before she could talk herself out of it.

Shinji helped the girl onto the ladder and watched her descend slowly.

At the bottom of the ladder, Airi discovered the cavern had been painted to resemble a sunny day. Reminded briefly of another such room, she looked for differences.

"You! Duck! NOW!" An impatient female voice yelled as a short girl wearing a red track suit dashed at her.

Instinctively Airi followed the orders as a sandal whooshed over her head and impacted with Shinji who was nearing the bottom of his descent. A loud THUD sounded as he lost his footing and fell the final rungs to the ground landing on his back.

"Owww..." Shinji moaned.

"You're late, moron!"

"Airi... I'd like you to meet Hiyori..." Groaned the Vizard as he sat up. "And Lisa, Love, Hachi, Kensei, and Mashiro..." He gestured to a small group of people standing in the background. Everyone seemed to be giving the girl in red plenty of room.

"Uh, nice to meet you?" The statement sounded more like a question as Airi held out a hand to Hiyori.

Hiyori rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. We're short on time. Can we skip the introductions?"

* * *

"Here, you can use this for the time being." The 8th captain placed a plain looking Zanpakto into the brunette's hands. "It's dull and old, so you'll be at a disadvantage until you can make it your own." Knowing that Zezuri would never truly be able to learn how to be a shinigami without a Zanpaktou of her own, Kyoraku had rummaged through the division's old supply room to see what he could find. Normally, shinigami received their blades when they entered the academy, but the girl's power had to be kept under close observation so that route was out of the question. "Should work just as good as one that wasn't used, but it's the best we can do for now."

Accepting the blade meekly, Zezuri couldn't help but feel this was punishment for being so slow to control her own.

"Are you ready?" Kyoraku asked his pupil.

Zezuri nodded and readied the battle stance she had seen Renji use. Yet, the captain did not return the pose, instead he stepped to the side.

"Oh, you thought you were going to fight me?" Kyoraku chuckled and adjusted his wide hat. "I'm afraid you might pick up my bad habits if we tried that. I'll do you one better; you'll be fighting yourself." The captain paused for a moment as the girl continued to give him a quizzical look. With a quick gesture of his hand, he cast a quick kido.

Zezuri noticed something move behind her. Searching the ground for what she had seen, only her shadow was to be seen. As she stared it began to move on its own before rising from the ground, standing before Zezuri.

"W-what is this!?" She said startled, taking a few steps back, and was more frightened as her shadow did the same.

"You should know. It's your shadow." Captain Kyoraku said calmly. "It will always do what you do. Basically it's a training dummy."

"I don't know any moves though!" She tried to explain.

"Neither does your shadow. All you have to do is fight yourself and observe your own style of fighting. Go on, try and strike it." He assured.

Zezuri stepped forward, feeling absurd, and readied her sword again. Soon she began to run towards her shadow, as it did the same. Both raising their swords to strike, and both coming into contact with a half-hearted clang.

"There you go, now try and land a blow to the shadow." He shouted from the side.

"That's impossible!" Zezuri moaned, "If it does what I do, how can I hit it!?"

"Just outsmart yourself!" The captain chuckled.

Zezuri let her shoulders drop with a sigh. This was crazy! What the heck did the captain mean 'outsmart herself'? Knowing she would just look foolish if she did nothing, she tightened her grip on the sword and swung again. Maybe she could move faster than her shadowy foe.

Around one hundred swings later, the brunette's arms were aching. How did everyone else make this look so easy? Both the Arrancar and Shinigami she had encountered seemed to move as one with their blades. Even Airi who Zezuri had bested in kendo, for the brief time they had spent at it, had been so adept with her own blade.

Lost in her thoughts she continued to slash at her shadow.

"There you go! I think your getting a feel for the blade!" Captain Kyoraku encouraged after a long while had passed.

She was getting used to attacking, but at the same time, she wasn't making progress fast enough. The feeling she had been drowning in over the past weeks flooded into her mind. Why couldn't she make any progress?! Her frustration levels peaking and arms screaming with exhaustion, Zezuri aimed to strike her shadow once more.

Something was different this time.

The shadow made no attempt to mirror her attack. Instead, it blocked the blow effortlessly.

"Uh oh, you seemed to have taken too long!" The pinked garbed captain smiled as he was reminded of his own similar struggles centuries ago.

"W-what do you mean?" Zezuri asked, gazing down at her shadow as she was still pressing her blade down on it. But it seemed to have obtained greater strength and countered her movement in one swoop, causing Zezuri to fall over. She gazed up at the dark figure approaching her, pointing its blade at her. Zezuri looked up past her shadow's dark blade. It now stood in a masterful stance looking rather formidable.

"The shadows begin to develop a mind of their own if its master has not defeated it within a few hours. Eventually, they get bored and will try to kill you." He shrugged, "I told you it was dangerous."

"C-can you make it stop!?" She trembled from the ground.

"Nope! You're still training!" Not making any effort to help, he continued to spectate.

This certainly didn't look like training anymore, thought Zezuri as she tried not to panic. She knew she was in deep trouble if she didn't think fast- no, she had no choice now. She had to defeat her own self.

* * *

Airi drew in a ragged breath as she deflected another attack from Hiyori.

"C'mon! What are scared of?" the Vizard taunted Airi.

Scowling the blonde arrancar hastily swung back at her opponent. The comment had hit a nerve. She was scared. Terrified of what they wanted her to do. Shinji's instructions echoed in her mind. "The first thing you need to do is get that release of yours under control. It won't be easy, especially in your state, but if you want to look human you'll have to change the balance on the inside."

Hiyori's blade clashed with Airi's for a second before the Vizard maneuvered around and found its mark.

The girl cursed under her breath knowing she should have been able to avoid that attack. A small gash ran up her forearm. Airi backed off and readied herself for another attack. Biting her lip against the pain, she clenched the hilt of her sword tighter trying to hold back the dark thoughts that were building.

"You're weak!" shouted her opponent and a voice inside her head.

Airi leapt at Hiyori. "No, I'm not!" she yelled inside her mind frantically.

The sound of a raging sea overtook Airi's mind for a brief moment as she struggled not to let it win control of her mind. She was stronger than that.

White hot pain shot through the arrancar as Hiyori's blade lodged itself in her side.

The Vizard realized seconds too late that her opponent was not going to deflect the attack. Releasing her grip on the sword she watched as Airi fell to the ground.

"I think you overdid it, Hiyori." Shinji was suddenly standing next to the shortest Vizard.

"S-shut up! She's f-fine!" The cocky confidence was slipping fast from her voice.

The rest of the Vizards rushed over.

Kensei knelt next to the collapsed arrancar. "Good job, Hiyori. Were you trying to kill her?"

"Is she dead?" Inquired Mashiro.

As if to answer, Airi out a moan.

"S-see! She's fine!" Hiyori knelt next to Airi's side, trying to mask the relief with her usual scowl. "Why didn't you dodge?" She asked the girl.

Airi didn't respond as she grimaced at the blade still partially embedded in her body. "C-can you... get that...?" She asked weakly.

* * *

The shadow watched unmoving as Zezuri scrambled back to her feet and resumed her battle stance right away. Her mind was going blank again; she had no idea what to do now that she was facing a totally different opponent.

"Stop letting fear of the enemy control your thoughts. You are stronger than the shadow, you just have to prove it." The captain stated as the shadow leapt forth to attack.

Zezuri successfully deflected the attack, but the exhaustion in her arms was setting in. Her blade shook and vibrated with the attack. "This sword will break soon!" She thought, sweat dripping down the side of her forehead. The girl could almost sense how ancient the weapon was and how long it had lain unused, rusting from the inside out.

Soundlessly, the shadow moved in for a another attack. Swinging upwards with all her might, Zezuri stopped the attack that had been aimed at her head. The force of the blow pushed her back regardless of her stance.

* * *

After a few minutes of healing magic performed by the large Vizard known as Hachi, Airi was back on her feet. Though she had no physical wounds, the areas she had taken injury to still stung as if they were open.

"Ready for this?" Kensei asked.

Airi nodded.

Kensei was taking over for Hiyori, hoping to have a little more self control while fighting an injured opponent he didn't wish to finish off. "I won't hold back either."

"I understand."

"Here I come!" the well-muscled man unsheathed his sword and closed the distance between him and the arrancar in the time it had taken Airi to raise her own sword to block.

She blinked in surprise; she hadn't expected him to be so quick.

"He's not quick, you're just slow, weakling." The voice in Airi's head taunted her.

* * *

From atop of a rocky spire, Starrk watched the girl struggle against the Vizards below. Completely concealing his spiritual pressure, he hid from Airi. True, he had made the conversion from arrancar to Vizard, but his situation was different from the girl. For one, he was in excellent condition, something the girl would not be... perhaps forever for all they discern.

Secondly, he only had one dominant soul. Despite having been a hollow initially, Starrk's main desire for comradery held more power than his natural instincts to destroy. Airi, from what he had observed and sensed, had at least two souls battling for control. One was hollow, of that, there was little doubt. The other was the fading remains of her human soul. He had to admit how remarkable it was that she had been able to fight off the hollow's control as long as she had.

Finally, he had not been pressured with time. No one had known where he had gone, or even noticed his absence. The seireitei would be sending out scouts no doubt and Aizen always seemed to know where Urahara was at any given time.

Then something occurred to him. Someone was missing from the area. Stretching out his senses, the ex-Espada failed to find who he was searching for. Where was that blue-haired head-strong excuse for an arrancar?!

Before he had completed his thoughts, Starrk had flashed upstairs to find Urahara.

"You don't happen to know where Grimmjow went, do you?"

The shopkeeper had been enjoying a cup of tea at his low table while staring blankly at newspaper. Upon Starrk's sudden appearance, he jumped and dropped his cup.

Ignoring the spilled hot water running off the table and pooling on the floor, Urahara met Starrk's gaze with a look as if he had discovered the date of the apocalypse. "That's what that signal was!"

* * *

At that very moment, the Sixth Espada was back in Hueco Mundo, staring at the looming walls Las Noches, wondering what to do next. Everything here had used to make sense to him; as black and white as the sky above his head and the sand below his feet.

Grimmjow was sure Aizen knew of his return to Hueco Mundo. Why then, did he fear reporting to the Ex-Captain? Sure, he'd raised a few rebellions in the past, but Aizen had never raised a hand to seriously reprimand him. Besides, he had survived the Seireitei and returned on his own. What did he have to fear?

Deciding that fear was a fool's emotion, he soon came to a decision to head straight for the throne room. Wordlessly, he sped off to rejoin his commander.

Approaching the giant doors of the throne room he spotted a familiar face, who seemed to be waiting for him. "Still alive, eh?" Grimmjow sneered at his fellow Espada.

"There was never any doubt that I would survive. However, we weren't expecting you would still be alive after the shinigami managed to overpower you and take the two girls." The pale faced espada said unenthusiastically.

Grimmjow glowered.

"Aizen has been waiting for you and for me to give you this..." Ulquiorra suddenly vanished and reappeared behind Grimmjow, his hand firing off a small cero.

The Sixth Espada was caught totally off guard but leaned backwards at the last moment. The blast caught the top of his shoulder, signing his already tattered uniform and the skin beneath.

"That's enough, Ulquiorra..." Aizen's voice issued from within the throne room. The two espada paused and entered the throne room, Grimmjow vowing to himself to get revenge later.

"I'm glad to see you have returned in one piece. We suffered enough injuries already. I must admit that I did not expect to see you alive, let alone returning to me. I cannot fathom why the Seireitei did not execute you on the spot when you gave up during the fight." Aizen spoke with a calm tone. "Now, tell me, what did they do with the girls? Szayel has been able to track your general location. How did you get from the Seireitei and why did you stay in the human world before coming here?"

"I bargained with a group of half-shinigami, half-arrancars in exchange for my escape. I gave them the whereabouts of the two girls when we were in the Soul Society. I had nothing to do with them after that." Grimmjow intentionally left out most of the details.

Aizen said nothing more of Grimmjow's 'rescuers'; he didn't need to. Instead he chose to glean more information on the Seireitei from his minion. "Did the shinigami hesitate to kill you and Airi because of that girl? She must have some sway over them now if they are willing to spare you. No doubt they discovered her 'powers'."

"Yeah, I'd say so. She kept begging them to keep us alive in return for her cooperation. But I doubt those bastards would have let me live for too long."

The Ex-Captain nodded in agreement. "Is there anything else you would wish to add to your report, Grimmjow?" Aizen stared back into the espada's eyes, as if pulling every single truth from his soul.

"No... Aizen-sama." Grimmjow looked away, wondering how much Aizen actually knew. Reading the intentions of the Ex-Captain was near impossible with the calm, confident smile he wore all the time.

"Very well. Ulquiorra..."

"Sir?" Asked the Fourth espada.

"I believe Urahara still has one of ours. Go retrieve her. I trust you won't fail as the Sixth has." Aizen ordered.

Ulquiorra made a quick bow. "Right away..." And with that, he disappeared.

"You're free to go, Grimmjow. I'll be expecting you to help us fight the Shinigami soon. You can even strike first if it pleases you." The Ex-Captain grinned larger knowing he had won this battle.

Feeling as if he had just been slapped across the face, the blue-haired Espada did not speak. Silently he left the room with a scowl.

* * *

_Dun dun dun... Urahara let his guard down... again. (Isn't that the whole plot of Bleach anyways?) Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoyed! Feel free to leave any feedback, comments, critiques, reviews, whatevers! I do respond to each and every one! -Airumel_


	24. Blood, Tears, & Worst Fears

_Hey everyone! Here's the long awaited action-packed next chapter! I really don't have much to say up here this time...other than I've gone to work for 12 days straight. Yay science. And we may or may not have decided on an ending for this, not that it's coming that soon, but still... have to set some things up now. Mwahahahaha. -Airumel 5/24/13_

* * *

**-Chapter 24-**

The day was dragging on and Airi was making no progress. Pulling herself to her feet she wondered how much longer she could keep this up. Her determination was beginning to waver as her body began to fail again.

Maybe being an arrancar wasn't all that bad.

The thought had been growing louder and louder with every passing hour and was the only reason she was still so resolved to keep fighting. There was no way she would stay this way when she had a chance to be something closer to human. Something that wasn't a monster.

"Do you still want to continue?" called Lisa, her current opponent.

The Vizards had taken turns switching out, hoping that if Airi had to keep adjusting to a different fighting style, she would eventually have to try to summon her release. A few times they had come close, but the arrancar would suddenly lose focus. Usually this was accompanied by substantial damage from her failure to dodge or block in the same moment.

Airi knew it was no fault of the Vizards that she was unable to summon her release. Unsure she could control it, a small part of her mind resisted until she found herself lying on the ground time and time again.

This time would be different. The thoughts in Airi's head were beginning to veer closer and closer to a hollow's bloodlust. There was a thin margin of equilibrium before her feral side overtook her.

Taking a deep breath she steadied her stance and closed her eyes, forcing herself to remember how the release went.

Lisa glanced at the other Vizards to question if she should attack.

Airi raised her sword out in front of her and slowly raised it above her head, keeping the blade parallel with the ground.

Shinji gave a nod to his comrade who began to rush at her opponent.

The arrancar seemed completely unaware of the incoming attack, but Lisa wasn't about to hesitate. Swinging her sword, she made to attack Airi's unprotected side.

"RAGE! Oceano viento!" shouted the arrancar. An unexplained rush of wind blew her attacker backwards to the ground.

* * *

Zezuri was running out of strength, or perhaps she had a long time ago; maybe she was running on pure desperation. The shadow swung quickly as Zezuri tried to defend, her arms wobbled and the rusty sword was flung from her hands, landing with a clatter a short distance away.

The girl looked from her sword to the shadow, hope draining from her face. The dark, featureless form didn't hesitate about eradicating its foe. Soundlessly, it leapt up into the air, kicked off the wall behind it and hurdled straight downward at Zezuri, creating a huge blast.

Luckily, Zezuri still had enough energy to dodge. She dropped to the ground and rolled across the floor to where a giant decorative urn had been placed. Her heart pounding, she hide herself behind it wondering if she could fool her shadow and catch her breath. Seconds went by, but no attack came. Very shortly anxiety got the best of her. Peaking out slowly from behind the urn, she looked around the room for her shadowy foe. The only other being in the room was the captain, who was still watching with the same amused expression he had worn when she had started this battle. It seemed as if the shadow had simply vanished. This left Zezuri more worried. The hair on the back of her neck stood up despite her efforts to calm down. Sweat on her palms made the grip on her sword hard to maintain.

"W-when did I get my sword back?" She thought quietly; had she picked it up while dodging the last attack and didn't notice? That didn't sound too plausible. Come to think of it, hadn't the blade shown signs of wear and rust? She had little time to carefully look at the blade when she felt the presence of the shadow directly behind her. It sliced cleanly through the urn which Zezuri had just been leaning against. A new surge of energy filled the girl as she quickly moved again. Before she knew what she was doing, the brunette turned and adeptly deflected another well-aimed blow from the shadow.

"This sword feels..." She began to think again. The shadow readied itself for its next attack, yet Zezuri's arms stopped shaking. Fatigue and soreness drained away from her mind as she began to feel slightly empowered. "This isn't the sword I had before..." She thought finding herself able to push the shadow backwards.

"You are a shinigami, but you are not. I am here to aide you down this path to greater power if you wish it so..." A faint whisper filled her mind. Zezuri looked over at Captain Kyoraku, wondering at first if it had been him who had spoke to her. It clearly wasn't. The middle-aged captain was beginning to nod off despite the raging battle in front of him.

"Call my name!" The whisper came again, this time harsher and louder with a slight bit of a hiss.

With its opponent distracted by some unseen force, the shadow leapt around Zezuri's defenses. Before Zezuri could utter a word the shadow had plunged its black sword through her right shoulder.

* * *

The great expanse of the starry sea reached out to the horizon as if it could merge with the darkening skies of the perpetual sunset. Airi blinked open her eyes knowing exactly where she would find herself. However, the waters surrounding the rocky sandbar were only at a gentle chop. The prelude to a storm, she thought with slight apprehension. She remembered the last time she had awoken here; a storm had been raging and the dark haired girl had been in control. Just where was she?

Airi stood up and looked around. Every direction she looked held only the twinkle of stars from the sea. She was alone.

"This is odd..." she muttered aloud. Something did not feel right. Every time she had been here since becoming an arrancar, the girl had been waiting for her. Why was now any different? Did she know that Airi was coming to fight her?

A dim flicker of light being reflected caught her out of the corner of her eye. Quickly, she turned and braced herself for an attack.

None came.

Lowering her arms, Airi looked cautiously around to see what had caught her attention. A mound of small rocks a short distance away appeared to be covering something. Curiously, the girl slowly stepped closer.

The flash of light came again as a glittering wave swept in towards the mound.

Airi knelt on the ground and moved some of the rocks away. Her sword reflected the light again as another wave rushed over its metallic surface. With much care as to not cut herself, the girl unearthed the sword as she wondering how it had become buried.

When it was free from the pebbly contents of the beach Airi sat back and stared at it dully. How was this going to help? While she was stuck on her island what was happening back outside of her mind?

Another wave washed ashore, the lights inside cast just enough light that Airi briefly saw her reflection. "W-what?" She exclaimed staring harder at the sword's well polished blade.

Staring back at her was not her reflection as she remembered it. Heavy black streaks ran through her long blonde hair. Grabbing a lock of it in her hand she looked away from the blade only to see it was as the reflection had shown. Heart hammering away in a suddenly burst of panic she looked back at the blade only to find an even bigger change. Wide eyed with confusion Airi could not fail to notice that only one of her eyes was green. The other was now deep shade of purple. "What's going on!?" She dropped the sword like it was something poisonous.

A laugh tinged with a bitter edge echoed from within the blade. Cautiously, Airi picked the sword again. Right before her eyes her reflection moved on its own and spoke in a gleefully sarcastic tone. "Oh sorry, did you think you could defeat me?"

Airi's mouth was agape in shock. The voice was that of the black haired girl whom she suddenly was resembling.

"Or should I say us? Afterall, we are the same. Two sides of the same coin as the cliché goes. At least we are now."

"Who are you?" The girl demanded of her reflection.

Her reflection sighed. "You still haven't figured that out? Well, I suppose it would be a bit complicated now, so I guess I will tell you after all. I started as a single soul. I entered your mind when you let your guard down. You remember, it was when you were sure you could defeat that ex-Shinigami blocking your way out of Las Noches."

"That was when I became-"

The reflection cut her off. "Yes, I am the hollow within you. Your lust for power created me, that and your deeper emotions fed me along with the souls that were injected into your bloodstream. Silently, I grew stronger until I was able to take a physical form. After that, it was only a matter of waiting for the right moment to completely break through to the surface."

"Then this is your sword?" Airi asked disgusted that she had used it.

"That thing? No, it's not mine," the reflection scoffed, "A true hollow needs no blade. Though I will admit it does come in handy."

Airi clutched the blade gently, now feeling safer with this knowledge. It was hers, not this monster's.

"Heh." The hollow laughed. "If you think that will save you, you're wrong. As we speak, I am in control of this body."

"How?!"

"You called on me. Why else do you black out when you summon the true power of a hollow? Because it's all under my control."

* * *

"Airi!" yelled Shinji, to the rampaging arrancar as he kept his sword between himself and her steel-like talons. The battle against Airi had become severely one-sided after Airi had summoned her release. Every Vizard had sensed the change and was fully aware that the girl they were trying to help was no longer in control of her body. Three pairs of white wings created a gale force wind that was hard to stand against, let alone launch an attack. Yet the ex-shinigami were no weaklings. Despite the added difficulty they fought on, hoping Airi would regain control, but they were already weary from fighting against the girl all day.

A blast of water came surging at Lisa, perhaps the most worn out of the group. She watched helplessly as the arrancar suddenly appeared behind her. Which attack to block?

Taloned hands met steel, but not that of Lisa's blade.

"Let me handle this." Starrk had blocked the attack from behind while the Vizard had chosen to deflect the water with kido.

Relieved, she nodded and flashed away from the fight.

* * *

"You want to know why we look the same?" Taunted Airi's reflection. "It's because I am you. That means you are hollow, same as me."

"No! I'm not!"

"Sure, deny it all you want, the evidence is there. You hunger for power, for SOULS. Deep down you even miss being the fraccion of the Fourth!"

Doubt began to creep into Airi's mind. "T-that's... that's not true!"

Confident laughter came from the reflection. "You hesitated. Surely you can see the truth."

"You're wrong!" The girl's fist was clenched tight around the hilt of her sword now. "You said this was my sword."

"So what?"

"Hollows don't have swords!" Airi shouted at the top of her lungs. At the same moment, the sea behind her swelled up into a massive tidal wave.

"True, I may not own the sword, but that doesn't change what you are." The words of her reflection echoed in her mind as the giant wave crashed down upon her. All her senses went dark as the deep thunder of the wave took over.

* * *

Zezuri's eyes were wide, her expression frozen in shock. Pain surged through her body on a level she could hardly comprehend. Just when she thought she couldn't hurt any more, the shadow withdrew its blade from her shoulder, flicking gore from it blade. She cried out and fell to her knees. This was it, wasn't it? How could she keep fighting in this much pain? Faceless and expressionless, the shadow wasn't wasting anytime for its opponent to regain her strength.

"Ugh..." Zezuri moaned as she dragged her sword in an upwards arc to intercept the shadow's strike. Still unable to figure out how she was still fighting, let alone conscious, Zezuri gave silent thanks to her new found strength.

"If you don't hurry, you will die here!" Zezuri grunted at the voice in her head again. "Stop denying yourself power! Release your fury!"

"Seishin..." She began, but before the girl could finish, her shadow began a relentless barrage of blows aimed for her head, alternating swings from the left and right. Gritting her teeth, the brunnette held her sword over her head and braced weakly against the strikes. Each swing crashed down with vibrations that shook her arm until she was sure it was going to fall off. This was hopeless, she began to think, maybe she wasn't made to have greater power.

"You will die, your friends will die, everything will die!" The voice admonished.

Zezuri suddenly remembered the nightmares that had been plaguing her nights. Her friends died in front of her before she perished as well. "No..." Tears began to form in her eyes. Her resolve strengthened and she pushed herself to her feet despite the shaking in her knees. "I won't let them die! I have to live to protect them! Seishin Byakko!" A bright light shone off her blade as the shadow shielded itself from the light.

"Well well, It's about time..." The captain yawned.

* * *

Concerned voices came into focus along with the painted blue sky overhead as Airi blinked her eyes open. "W-what happened?" she moaned blinking from the bright light.

"You went out of control again." A voice she hadn't heard in a long time spoke.

Turning her head to the right, she saw she was surrounded by a crowd of people. Her eyes wandered until they fell upon Starrk. He knelt next to her staring with the slightest amount of concern on his usually placid face. "Starrk?" She asked weakly.

"Who else would I be?" Even his voice betrayed concern though the ex-Espada was trying his best to hide it in his normal monotone.

Green eyes studied him intently; where was his mask and hole? Search as she might, his defining features of his arrancar status were nowhere to be seen.

Seeing her confused expression he felt a pang of empathy.

"But... how?" She managed, her body felt as if it barely had enough energy to maintain normal functions.

"I'll explain later. It's a long story." He looked over to Hachi. "Is she stable to move?"

The large Vizard nodded, but was silent as was the rest of the group. From their faces, Airi could easily see they were all exhausted. As she caught Shinji's eye, he gave her a weak smile. "Don't worry about us. We're a little out of shape, that's all."

Starrk began to lift Airi from the ground.

"I'm fine," she protested, "Really. I can walk." Her face flushed. When did she get so weak that she was always being carried around?

The ex-Espada said nothing and let go.

"You might not want to push yourself." Kensei suggested.

Shaking violently with the effort, Airi pushed herself up from the dusty ground. The Vizards stood ready to catch her if she fell. Slower than she had ever moved before in her existence, the girl pushed one foot out in front of the other. A few wobbly steps forward was all she could take. Yet, she would not fall. Standing in place, she wished she could vanish. Moisture began to well up in her eyes; she had failed to control her release, failed to defeat her inner demon, and now she was failing to walk. What was the use?

A strong hand on her shoulder startled her. "There's no use cryin'. Starrk might have had an easy time with this process, but the rest of us... well, it took a long time."

Tear-stained eyes looked up at the Vizard leader. Didn't he see how useless it was for her to try?

"We were all much further out of control than you were. We were hoping you would be able to use the same technique that worked for Ichigo-kun." He gave an encouraging smile. "You're a lot more like us than you know."

No, I'm not like you, she thought, my hollow side can't be separated from me. Suddenly, the girl sagged as her legs gave out under her.

Swiftly, sturdy arms found their way behind her back, breaking her fall.

"I think you don't get a choice in this matter anymore." The blond Vizard winked before Airi could protest again as she found herself lifted again by Starrk. Realizing Shinji was right, Airi gave in to save herself from further embarrassment.

* * *

The brunette gazed at her Zanpakto in awe, she hadn't realized this had been possible. Before she knew it, her blade was guiding her motions as she resumed her fight against the shadow.

"You and I are one. Control my sword and harness the power within you." The voice said again, but no longer from within her head. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see a blurry white form. She turned her head to look for a brief second and caught a glimpse of a white tiger.

"Is that thing talking to me?" She wondered after pushing her opponent backwards with a thrusting blow.

The shadow came at her again, it seemed aware that the tables had been turned, for it was the one attacking out of desperation. Zezuri tightened her grip, readied her stance, and in an instant was above and behind her foe. Her arms swung the blade aided by the pull of gravity. In one fluid motion she cut the shadow in two before it had a chance to turn and look. Instead of falling to the floor, the two halves of the shadowy mass dissipated, blown away on a non-existent wind.

Zezuri took in a deep breath of air, letting it out slowly. Relief filled her knowing the battle had been won. The blade in her hand gleamed brightly; the hilt was wrapped with gold material.

Captain Kyoraku, whom Zezuri had been sure would still be napping, came closer to her and patted her shoulder. "See? I knew you could do it." She looked up to see a large smile on his face. "The Zanpakuto you summoned is your own. All that kido you were using wasn't pure kido; it was mostly raw energy you should have been able to use to draw out your sword with. But, don't go feeling sad that you had this much trouble. I'm sure if the other captains around here were honest, you'd find they struggled to obtain their own power too. You at least had more control over it than most." He chuckled inwardly thinking of a certain young captain that was still having troubles of his own. "Now you should find fighting easier, though you might have a bit of trouble with kido..."

"Okay..." Zezuri tried to take in the information, but everything had happened so fast. Before she said anything further she turned to look across the room again, but the beast was gone. She had wanted to ask about the tiger, but something told her it had been something only visible to her. Picking up a scabbard that had appeared next to the vase she had hidden behind, she sheathed the blade and slipped it into the belt of her hakama. It was then she noticed that the terrible wound in her arm had vanished without a trace.

It was now early in the evening; the sun was beginning its descent into the West and flooding Airi's room with light. After the group had exited the basement only Shinji and Starrk had remained with the weak arrancar as Urahara went rushing for his supplies. "Artificial souls will only help so much," he had explained to her, "I don't want mean to sound harsh, but you really only have two choices: one, you succeed in reversing the Hollowification, or two, return to Hueco Mundo. The atmosphere there alone would provide the sustenance you need to recover."

* * *

Airi sat in silence staring at her hands as she fidgeted with her robe trying to ignore the discomfort of the IV in her arm. She hadn't told Urahara about how her soul was fused with the hollow's.

"Knock, knock." A voice came from the doorway.

The blonde looked up and watched Starrk enter. "That guy with the striped hat seemed pretty concerned about your mental state. He asked me to pick your brain for him." The ex-Espada tried to sound as disinterested as he could.

Turning her head and looking out the window, Airi began to speak, "When I use my release, I black out."

"That much, I think we all are aware of."

"I always wake up on this island... and she would always be there."

Starrk waited for the girl to continue.

Airi turned to look at her comrade, "The hollow side of me. I had planned on trying to destroy her..."

"But you couldn't." The ex-Espada finished her sentence.

She shook her head, "No... her... we... ours souls are merged together..." Airi looked back outside quickly trying to hold back her tears.

A sigh issued from Starrk. He seated himself next to the girl on the floor.

For a long moment, neither said a word.

"That's normal, but I bet no one told you that."

"What?" Airi exclaimed.

"Hollows are born when human souls give in to the darker feelings. In your case, it was just helped along by Aizen's experiment. Your human soul had already begun converting towards a Shinigami-like state from the reports I saw. You summoned the sword before you became a hollow, correct?"

The girl nodded.

"That makes you more like the Vizards than me. It would be my guess that since you were hollowfied immediately after that point your hollow powers are greater than theirs." He ruffled her hair, still staring at the wall. "You'll be able to become like us in no time. Your approach was wrong, that's all. You can't destroy the hollow, because she is part of your soul. Just the same, an arrancar cannot destroy their Shinigami side."

Airi looked at the brown-haired man wondering what he meant. "If I don't destroy her, then what do I need to do?"

"Prove that some other side of you is more powerful." The look he received from Airi was not amused. "I don't think I can explain it any better than that. A hollow wants to be the strongest, or following someone they think is stronger, it's their nature."

Airi took in the information with a straight face. She wasn't sure how she could do this.

"Don't think too hard on it. You'll figure it out."

"Thanks."

"Peh, don't mention it."

A question that had been in the back of her mind since earlier bubbled up. "Say, Starrk... why did you switch sides? I thought you were the strongest Espada."

Starrk didn't answer. Instead he was staring out the window, a strange expression on his face.

"Starrk? What's wrong?" Airi asked becoming concerned. As the words left her mouth, she too could feel something wrong, not in the air, but in her tone.

Before she could think any further on the matter a tall dark figure suddenly appeared in front of the open window.

"A hollow always follows the stronger being." The voice inside Airi's head was smug.

"Ulquiorra." She gasped.

* * *

_Dun dun dun CLIFFHANGER. You're welcome. Anyways, thanks for reading! Hope you're still enjoying this! Please feel free to comment/review/ask questions/make suggestions/leave words of encouragement/etc. We're always happy to have feedback. See you next time! -Airumel  
_


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